Alexander A. Arthur Family Papers

Alexander Arthur was instrumental to the founding of Harrogate TN, Middlesboro KY, The Four Seasons Hotel and Sanitarium, and ultimately the founding of Lincoln Memorial University. Alexander Arthur was President and general manager of the two principal companies, the American Association, Ltd., and the Middlesboro Town and Land Company, 1887-1892. A well-financed British company called the “American Association, Ltd” developed a vacation resort at Middlesboro and Harrogate. At the opening of the Four Seasons Hotel and Sanitarium honored guests included Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor, Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mr. and Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, and members of the Roosevelt family. As well as several distinguished British visitors from Washington arrived by train for the champagne celebration. On April 12, 1892 the 700-room Four Seasons Hotel and the 200-bedroom Sanatorium were opened with a formal ball and banquet. The social elite of America were well represented at the event. However, in less than one year the Four Seasons went from being a shining jewel of the social set to a deserted building. In 1893, Arthur received a cable from London that the bank of the Baring Brothers had closed; frightened bondholders panicked when their stocks tumbled. The panic of 1893 in the United States also brought worry about the ambitious venture. Arthur was discharged and the enterprises were liquidated. Following the bankruptcy of the British investment corporation, the health and vacation resort at Harrogate was destined to be sold for salvage or demolished (only the sanatorium was left standing on the deserted grounds, which later became Grant-Lee Hall) in 1895. The Four Season Hotel building itself was demolished in 1895, with only the foundation and the stonework of the wall remaining.