Charleston's Russell Hotel on watch list

The Russell Hotel sits in downtown Charleston. The Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation (Missouri Preservation) recently announced the structure has been held over as a "watched property" on Missouri's Places in Peril for 2015. (Scott Welton, Staff)

CHARLESTON -- Positioned in downtown Charleston, The Russell Hotel -- where famous jazz musicians once stayed and played as they traveled back and forth between Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis -- could easily find a new purpose in the town it's called home for nearly 100 years.

Just ask Karen Teeters, executive director of Charleston Chamber of Commerce, and lifetime Charleston resident Betty Hearnes.

"When it was built, it was one of the finest hotels between St. Louis and Memphis," Teeters said, citing its "gorgeous architecture" and wood and iron work as reasons for its quality.

The lobby features cultured marble and octagon, black-and-white floor tiles.

"It was also known as one of the finest dance halls in Southeast Missouri," Teeters said.

The dances often featured big orchestras and were held in the basement of the hotel, Hearnes noted.

"I was a kid then, but everybody knew when they were having a dance because the lights were all on and a lot of people would come into town and stay," Hearnes recalled.

Big band era musicians like Jack Teagarden, Stan Kenton, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman are rumored to have played at the Charleston hotel.

Hearnes said because she was a child during this time, she can't confirm any names, but she does know there were some famous musicians from the swing era who played at the hotel.

"It was a very popular place. There was a dining room with the tile floors," Hearnes recalled.

The three-story structure's unique history and quality structure are just a couple reasons it's been been held over by the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation as a "watched property" on Missouri's Places in Peril for 2015.

"It's an annual list," Teeters said. "We were contacted and asked if we wished for the property to remain on the list, and doing so just calls a little extra attention to the building."

The list is a core advocacy program of the Missouri Preservation group. The Russell Hotel was first placed on the list in 2014 in hopes of attracting interest in the property from outside of the immediate area.

For the complete story, see the Aug. 16 edition of the Standard Democrat.