Hotel George Washington (Jacksonville)

On Armistice Day 1925, local businessman Robert Kloeppel announced to crowds in downtown Jacksonville that a luxury hotel would be built.

The George Washington Auditorium, built in 1941, was the biggest concert hall in town at the time (replacing the Duval County Armory), big enough for classical music events and cotillion balls.

The Hotel housed a steakhouse, a cocktail lounge, a dance hall called the Rainbow Room, a Rexall drugstore and a barber shop.

The Beatles were scheduled to perform on September 11, 1964 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, where they supposedly overheard that the venue was segregated.

As the group headed from Montreal to Jacksonville, their flight was diverted to Key West due to Hurricane Dora.

Currently, the site is occupied by the parking garage of the new Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) headquarters building that is under construction as of mid 2021.

A 1947 postcard advertising the Hotel George Washington
George Harrison and Paul McCartney being escorted through a crowd of fans at the Hotel George Washington, September 1964. The Beatles held a press conference there during their visit to Jacksonville but refused to stay at the hotel.