{"nrhp_refnum":"83003267","name":"Hotel Gleason/Albemarle Hotel, Imperial Cafe","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"617-619 W. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charlottesville (Independent City)","county":"Charlottesville","state":"VA","lat":38.03136761700006,"lon":-78.48894191399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-08-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story Victorian/Edwardian hotel building at 617-619 West Main Street in Charlottesville, Virginia, built in 1896 with a 1911-13 remodeling. Michael S. Gleason built the hotel, and the adjoining Imperial Cafe was later merged into it.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the hotel is an impressive example of the Victorian Edwardian style and the last survivor of about six hotels and inns that once stood along West Main Street near Union Station. It was the city's first large, modern hotel and operated for roughly three-quarters of a century. Reviewers ultimately accepted it as architecturally and historically significant within the context of the Charlottesville multiple resource area.","narrative":"Rising four stories on West Main Street in Charlottesville, this brick building began as the Hotel Gleason, built by Michael S. Gleason in 1896-97 beside his earlier hotel. Next door, the Imperial Cafe was built at the same time. In 1910-11 the two were consolidated as the New Hotel Gleason, and the cafe front was remodeled to match the hotel. The facade has a recessed ground-floor loggia on four Corinthian columns, pressed-tin ornament, a Palladian window within a portico, and a boxy overhanging cornice. The hotel opened a decade after Union Station made West Main Street the area's transportation hub. It was the city's first large, modern hotel and ran for about seventy-five years, later as the Albemarle Hotel, remaining a leading city hotel into the 1950s. It declined, was condemned in 1976, and was rehabilitated in 1981. It is listed as the last survivor of the hotels once lining this street.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Victorian (Victorian Edwardian)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Closed as a hotel after the City condemned it in 1976, mostly vacant 1977-1981, then extensively rehabilitated in 1981; later used for shops and offices or apartments. The adjoining 611 West Main Street building was demolished in 1980.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:58.053405-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/63/6786/41678663/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/83003267.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003267/3dc65c19fb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003267/3dc65c19fb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Strawser","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Gleason-Albemarle_Hotel-Imperial_Cafe.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Strawser</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Gleason-Albemarle_Hotel-Imperial_Cafe.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100001641","name":"West Main Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/west-main-street-historic-district-100001641/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678663","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Gleason/Albemarle_Hotel,_Imperial_Cafe","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15225821"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/charlottesville/hotel-gleason-albemarle-hotel-imperial-cafe-83003267/"}