at the Spotswood
Almost three years into the war people in Richmond can still get a good meal at the Spotswood Hotel, a place apparently far-removed from the Bread Riot Richmond of April 1863.
From the Richmond Daily Dispatch January 9, 1864:
Deserving of Praise.
–At the present time, when everything is scarce and hard to get, it is surprising how the hotel-keepers of Richmond keep up their tables in the style which they do. With regard to one of them, the “Spotswood,” we will say that, with the exception of the luxury of fresh salt-water fish, which cannot be had, there is scarcely any difference in the manner in which it is conducted now than there was before the war.–A practical test justifies us in saying that it is equal, to say the least, to any other hotel in the South, and persons visiting Richmond for pleasure or business should make their time as agreeable as possible by stopping at this well-kept establishment. Its enterprising proprietors, Messrs. Corkery [sic?] & Betts, as well as the superintendent of the dining room, Mr. Sherry, have be superiors in their departments, and, devoting their whole attention to the business, the guests of the hotel are not long in finding out that they have selected the most comfortable stopping place in the city.
As you can see from Alexander Gardner’s April 1865 photo, the Spotswood survived the war; however, it could not survive 1870, the Year of Disasters. A fire at the hotel killed eight people. You can see the ruins at Civil War Richmond.
There is evidence that the proprietors might have been a little too enterprising for the authorities. In July 1864 William F. Corkley [sic?] was charges with violating the anti-liquor law by selling brandy (not soda water and raspberry vinegar) at the hotel bar. The case was dismissed because the witness didn’t show up at court.
