Walton Hotel
Why it's listed
Rising three stories beside the courthouse square in downtown Monroe, this brick Victorian building was constructed between 1881 and 1886 as the Walton Hotel. Four small stores occupy the ground floor, while hotel rooms fill the upper levels along central hallways. Exterior features include segmentally arched windows, brick corbeling, a modillioned sheet metal cornice and a decorative parapet bearing the hotel's name. Inside, carved and turned stair woodwork, plaster walls and shallow fireplaces survive. The hotel served as Monroe's principal lodging from 1886 until 1919, when a newer hotel opened and it closed. It hosted traveling salesmen, businessmen and courthouse visitors, and was described locally in 1891 as the finest hotel between Atlanta and Augusta. It is the town's only surviving historic hotel and its only historic three-story brick structure, and its upper floors remain largely intact in a downtown where many older commercial buildings have been updated.
Significance in brief: The nomination finds it significant in architecture as a good example of a late-nineteenth-century commercial hotel and small-town Victorian commercial architecture. It is also a local landmark, one of Monroe's first major brick buildings, and its only surviving historic hotel. In commerce, it was Monroe's principal hotel from 1886 to 1919 and a catalyst for economic development.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 82002495, listed July 15, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Broad and Court Sts., Monroe |
|---|---|
| County | Walton County |
| Listed | July 15, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82002495 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1881-1886 |
| Architectural style | Victorian |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition rated fair. Stores on the ground floor are occupied; the upper hotel floors have been vacant since 1919 except for a few rooms used as offices, and are in poor condition. |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Within district | Monroe Commercial Historic District |
| Coordinates | 33.79411, -83.71285 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 82002495.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q134466059
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.