Raleigh’s ‘Second Round Building’ — the Holiday Inn (Downtown) [Updated]
A few weeks ago we published a postcard depicting Raleigh’s Woman’s Club on Hillsboro St. in the 1940s. This Holiday Inn, the “area’s first round inn,” was built on the site in 1969.
Thursday 11.30 pm
Aloha: —
Got here OK for 1st lap. Tomorrow will try for Jacksonville. Weather mostly cloudy — rain.
Grandpa
No stamp — looks like grandpa forgot to mail the card.
Holiday Inn Downtown
Near State Capitol and Legislative Bldg., area’s first round inn. 204 rooms, all color TV. VIP suites, rooftop restaurant, club, outdoor heated pool. Meeting and banquet rooms for 400 persons.
The description omitted what may be considered the “rooftop” restaurant’s finest amenity — the spectacular view of downtown Raleigh.
In case you’re wondering, Harrelson Hall on the NC State campus was Raleigh’s first ’round building.’
Today’s postcard is an example of a ‘photo chrome.’ It was published by Curt Teich under the name ‘Curteichcolor.’
Curt Teich Co.  1893-1974
Chicago, IL
A major publisher and printer. Their U.S. factories turned out more cards in quantity than any other printer. They published a wide range of national view-cards of America and Canada. Many consider them one of the finest producers of White Border Cards. The Linen Type postcard came about through their innovations as they pioneered the use of offset lithography. They were purchased by Regensteiner Publishers in 1974 which continued to print cards at the Chicago plant until 1978.
[UPDATE]
Addendum — A major architectural feature of the Holiday Inn was severely altered in the 1990s (I think.) Anybody care to guess what it was? (Clue: It’s not the sign.)
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08/26/2011
Cool! I also remember those old school Holiday Inn signs (as seen in the corner) that used to flash at night….
08/26/2011
I like the TR-6, Mustang Mach I (?), and MGB parked on the street!!!
08/26/2011
Always love the postcards! As a collector, I started with my grandmothers 1970s postcards from her trip to Denmark and find that its a fun hobby that doesn’t take up a lot of space, or cost a huge amount. I have several postcards of NC since I’ll be moving to the Rocky Mount area soon (if its not washed away :( Thanks for the great history lesson of my soon-to-be adopted home, and as a side note, hope everyone is safe and well and hunkering down. Wishing you all well!
08/26/2011
That was one building that did not have a 13th floor. Went from 12 to 14.
08/27/2011
Catherine: There is a fabulous antiques store on Main Street in Rocky Mount that has a large postcard collection, one of the biggest I’ve ever seen. The downtown historic district there is beautiful. I especially love the set of railroad tracks that run through the middle of Main Street.
08/29/2011
I mostly remember this as where The Association were busted for drugs in the early 70s. I think it was a police setup and charges were dropped, but of course Raleigh became an anathema for touring groups for a while after that.
And per the cool autos, Raleigh always had loads of nifty cars, expecially tons of cheap, used British sports cars. I tell folks here in Silicon Valley where I’ve lived since 78 that Mini Coopers actually existed before BMW (lol), and that in Raleigh they were quite common. I remember Kidd Brewer Jr’s Cobra. When later stolen he hired a private detective who found it in California in perfect condition.
Cheers from the Bay Area…
08/29/2011
Guilty as charged. Back in those days, I also drove a used ’69 Triumph GT 6+. It was cool looking, like a baby Jag XKE, but it was a bear to start, especially on cold mornings.
08/29/2011
I think the hotel originally had balconies but it doesn’t now. (So is that a building code thing or a liability insurance thing?) That’s my guess for a major renovation.
Also, I don’t remember an outdoor pool there — where was it, and was it removed?
09/03/2011
Thanks to all y’all who ID’d the cars parked out front. I recognized the Mustang but not the others.
Dev Mead — you are correct sir! The open balconies can be seen in the postcard, but today they are enclosed. I don’t remember an ‘outdoor heated pool’ either! Just the outdoor Bat Signal lights!
10/07/2012
The only time I was ever in the rooftop dining room was minutes after I became engaged to my first husband and we went up there for a celebratory drink. This was in 1993 and I thought I remembered the floor rotated slowly. My current husband, NOT a NATIVE of Raleigh says I am crazy but I have recently bumped into old friends from school that have that SAME memory of the rooftop dining room… anyone else remember this about the holiday inn of downtown Raleigh?
10/09/2012
The top floor of the Holiday Inn/Clarion/Holiday Inn NEVER rotated. I’ve been up there MANY times over the years.
10/24/2012
The top DID in fact rotate. Decades ago I took a date for dinner there. In took about an hour to make a full rotation.
11/25/2012
I graduated from Garner n ’85. When i was young i had a friend Melissa Sealey. Idk what happened to her but her Dad was owner or something of this Holiday Inn. Been to her bday parties there in the balcony room when i was a lil kid. Does anyone know anything about the owners history or the Sealeys?? Thanks
11/25/2012
Oh. I got married in Oct 1987. Stayed there that nite b4 our honeymoon flight. It had open balconies then. Was awesome. Step out into the night on the balcony. Wow opies what memories. I miss the flashing big sign on the corner. Raleigh downtown will never be the same without the round ole “Holiday Inn”.
11/26/2012
My family went up there many times when I was a child for Sunday buffet. The top floor never rotated. Believe me – a 10-year old boy would have NEVER forgotten something that exciting.
In fact, I don’t believe the windows on the top floor even go all the way around the building.
We stayed in a hotel across the street from the Pentagon that had a rotating restaurant once when I was about 14. It’s here:
http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/virginia/doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-washington-dc-crystal-city-DCAAEDT/index.html
And here’s a website that purports to list all rotating restaurants in the US – even those that are closed. Alas – the Raleigh Holiday Inn is not mentioned.
http://www.interestingamerica.com/2010-12-14_Revolving_Restaurants_in_the_Americas_by_Dotree.html
11/28/2012
The top of the Holiday Inn never rotated. One can look at any picture and tell the top is not suspended, there’s no way it could rotate. In fact, inside, the kitchen is actually on the side of the cab that doesn’t face downtown. Trust me, I have carnal knowledge of it’s operations (see below)
For those of us that did the Hillsborough hike *properly*, the “Top of the Tower” was the first bar. :)
I was at a Wedding reception there about ten years ago, and some friends and I managed to get access to the elevator control room and then the roof. The Bride and Groom came up with us (after we made sure we didn’t set off an alarm). Made for some nice pictures.
I also stayed there in circa 1997 and someone jumped off of one of the balconies to commit suicide. Very sad, and perhaps why they nixed the balconies (I’ve heard that’s happened multiple times).
I travel 90% of the time, and there’s about 20 cities around the US that have this same 50 year old HI design. Springfield, Il and Cincinnati to name a few.
11/28/2012
More music trivia about this Holiday Inn (in addition to the unfortunate Association connection):
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band stayed there in the early seventies, and inspired by the hotel’s circular stairwell, composed the “Raleigh-Durham Reel”, “…during a collective bout of insomnia.”
http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=34507981&ac=now
Also, my brother played guitar and sang in the Top of the Tower bar in the mid-seventies. It was a kick seeing his name on the neon-covered marquee sign!
10/26/2013
I just came across this entry while looking for information about this style of hotel. At the moment I’m in Charleston, SC, and staying at the Holiday Inn Riverview, which is the same style of building.
10/26/2013
Oops; replying on my mobile and accidentally tapped Submit Comment too soon.
The Charleston one still has the round balconies, apparently measuring about 5 feet wide by maybe 3 deep, but they are closed. A sign on the sliding glass door reads “for your safety thus door is permanently closed” and a U-bolt security latch mechanism in the door is bolted so that it cannot be opened.
03/04/2014
Newly rebranded as the Holiday Inn Raleigh Downtown, I guess what goes around, comes around. Pun intended! We have an employee who opened this property in 1969 and gets this question often. His answer, the Top of the Tower never rotated as part of the building, however, there was at one point a platform that rotated back and forth slowly. The building has undergone a complete remodel including all guestrooms, function space and the new SkyeTower Restaurant. Please come in relive your memories!
03/06/2014
Thanks, Hotel Manager, for the update on the status of the Holiday Inn Raleigh Downtown. Looking forward to visiting the new SkyeTower restaurant — the view from ‘the top of the tower’ is incomparable to any other restaurant in Raleigh. Sure wish you could bring back that iconic neon sign, as well! Here is another post we published on the Holiday Inn last year — http://goodnightraleigh.com/2013/10/holiday-inn-downtown-raleigh-n-c/
03/06/2014
I’d love to see the classic Holiday Inn neon up there too, but I’m afraid any sign on the roof (neon or otherwise) won’t fly with the Raleigh sign ordinance, unless some structural changes are made.
05/17/2019
I am looking for some history on the Holiday Inn that describes the pool that was on the roof! I was there in the mid 90’s – and the heated pool described on the postcard was on the roof! Please someone tell me I haven’t lost it!
Thanks!
05/18/2019
Google Earth shows a black roof w/ lots of HVAC equipment there.
05/19/2019
So, now I’m thinking that the pool was on the top of the 3rd or 4th floor – the bottom floors have a larger circumference than the larger tower. Anyone have a memory of that?
06/02/2019
I definitely remember an outdoor pool being off the 2nd or 3rd floor circular parking deck facing Edenton Street. The entrance was off the parking deck.
07/07/2020
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02/11/2022
I can’t believe they are planning to demolish this iconic downtown landmark!
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