The Carolina Inn is currently the home for the Center Interdisciplinary Studies . It is also one of four structures remaining from the early days of the town.
Built by the Dinkins family circa 1848 as a general store and resting
spot for travelers, the building is located on the opposite side of
Statesville Highway, later called Main Street, from the main campus.
This road was a far cry from the modern length of pavement we know today as
Main Street. This road was beaten dirt churned up by passing animals
and wagons. Students referred to Statesville Highway as the Red Sea
because they would have to walk across a sea of muddy Carolina clay to
get to the store.
The building was converted to an inn (the Helper Hotel) in 1855 by
Hanson Pinckney Helper, who made his hotel and store a popular spot for Davidson and her visitors.
Hanson Helper was the brother of Hinton Rowan Helper, who raised the ire of the antebellum South with his book “The Impending Crisis of the South.” In 1860, Hanson added the second story balcony. When South Carolina seceded from the Union that year, the male students met on the balcony to decide to go home and fight for their state.
Hanson added the famous Widow’s Walk on top of the roof in 1871. People say that that he built the Widow’s Walk because he had no place to garden, so he placed one on top. Whatever his motivation, the Widow’s Walk provided a fantastic view of Statesville Highway.
Even by 1871, that street was still a tumultuous sight. Lucy Philips Russell recalls a particularly harrowing day when she was a child: “A drover from the mountains came along with a drove of cattle for the Charlotte market, [which]… became infuriated. With blazing eyes and clashing horns they milled around the lot bellowing hideously, snorting, pawing the ground, and charging the men who attempted to control them… It was late that night before a crowd of men and boys armed with clubs and pitchforks drove the maddened beasts out of town, moaning and bellowing as they crowded through the narrow street.” [A
Rare Pattern 63]
Yet when the Carolina Inn was restored by Davidson College in 1971, the road was now paved, marked, and cattle were nowhere to be seen. The sight was much closer to what we know today. The building itself had also undergone many changes. In the late 1800’s, Dr. Dupuy operated a drug store inside, while in the 1920s-30s, Mrs. Bohannon used the Carolina Inn to house visiting college girls.
Though now a beloved campus building, the Carolina Inn actually did not come into the College’s possession until 1946. At that time, the building became a teen cantine and senior center. There are many wonderful stories of that social center… do any readers have favorite memories?
– Tammy Ivins, Archives Fellow
Photographs: The Carolina Inn circa 1870 and in 1971.
i love reading these history pieces on davidson and the college!
so fascinating!
Love your articles………..Keep up the great work!
In 1950 the Carolina Inn was the domicile of Crowell Little’s 1st batch of big-time recruits for Davidson’s football Renaissance. I had just left Fort Jackson, and the barracks were much cleaner and more comfortable than Carolina Inn. There were cockroaches big enough to carry off our dirty socks!
What a great story. According to the 1952 Quips and Cranks, you had more than cockroaches to face. The football section starts with this report: The coaching staff was hopefully optimistic about the incoming prospective ballplayers and it was felt that all was in readiness for a rejuvenated Wildcat season. When the large number of seventy-five gridiron hopefuls invaded the campus two weeks before school started, they met their master and the roar of Cruel Crowell told of the blood, sweat, and tears ahead. Those two steaming hot week proved to be “Hell on Earth” even for the 23 returning lettermen. The sparks flew as full scale, old-fashioned head-banging sessions were held twice a day.
Jan
I have strong sentimental feelings toward the Helper Hotel. Pickney was my great grandfather and the Vinson family has been a presence here ever since Pickney moved here from Mocksville, NC. My grandfather, William D. Vinson taught Mathematics at Davidson College in the 1870’s to the 1890’s. After he died Lillie Vinson, the daughter of Pickney, built the house, my wife and I presently live in, at 519 North Main Street in 1898. She boarded the Beta Fraternity until she died in 1926. My aunt, Miss Maude Vinson, taught in the local high school for many years. And my Dad, Dr. Porter Vinson, myself, my son, William Vinson Jr., and two grandsons, Brendan and Nat Wittstruck graduated from Davidson College. Other than that we have had no association with Davidson and the College.
Bill,
Your family’s association with the college and the town is amazing – we’re glad you remain so involved with both!