The corner lot was first the site of Barry’s Hotel which by 1822 was a two-story frame building which later became the Eagle Hotel. In 1860, construction began on the four-story brick Gilmer Hotel. During the Civil War, it served as one of three Confederate military hospitals in Columbus. Although it was a 450-bed hospital, it housed about 800 soldiers after the battle of Shiloh. At that time, over 3,500 sick and wounded soldiers poured into Columbus and overflowed from the hospitals into churches and private homes. The huge hotel was still under construction at that time and an eyewitness later recounted that “the wounded were laid out on straw pallets row upon row through great unfinished spaces within the building.” During the 20th century, celebrities such as Clark Gable, Bob Hope, Jack Dempsey, Doris Day and Will Rogers were all guests of the hotel. It was torn down in 1963 and in its place the Gilmer Inn Motel was built. Later called the Gilmer Inn, that structure was torn down in 2016.
