Bowling Green Suites has a very rich history
126 North Main Street is built upon the foundation and framework of the New Hope Tavern and The Lawn Hotel. As published by Caroline Historical Society, “a Guide to Historic Bowling Green, Virginia” by Carolyn Roth, May 2007:
“Taverns filled important needs in colonial times, providing food and lodging for travelers and serving as meeting places for local residents. The Hoomes family had a well-established estate at the Bowling Green, with the main north-south colonial road passing in front of it. In 1773, John Hoomes opened the New Hope Tavern on the family’s property just a half-mile up the road. By this time, there was also an east-west road used for transporting hogsheads of tobacco to Port Royal. New Hope Tavern was well-placed at this crossroads and quickly became a center of trade.
In 1794, Hoomes petitioned Caroline County to move its court operations to his property, and for a time his tavern functioned as the center of government. In 1805, a new courthouse was built across the road, and the tavern was expanded and re-named the Lawn Hotel. It was the center of a lively scene on court days, with vendors and traveling merchants arriving by wagon or by train to Milford and then on into Bowling Green with merchandise to tempt the crowds. Each month had a theme for local buying, selling, and trading. Dogs, horses, guns, and watermelons were exchanged and celebrated on the lawn of both the courthouse and the Lawn Hotel.
The original building sat well back from the road, with a long porch and double exposed chimneys. It was a frame building, and was seriously endangered by the town fire of April 10, 1900. Fire swept down Main Street and there was no fire department to combat it. Fortunately, local residents covered the building with wet blankets and threw buckets of water on the building. By dawn the next morning, the Lawn Hotel was the only structure standing on the west side of Main Street,
In the ensuing years the hotel supplied temporary housing to those needing it: the town barber, servicemen returning from war, couples starting their marriage. As the original building aged and sagged, the decision was made to destroy it. It was torn down in 1953. An addition from the early 1900s was saved, and serves as apartments today. It is located on Main Street across from the courthouse and directly behind the National Register sign and a large dogwood tree.”
124 &126 N. Main Street, Bowling Green, VA 22427 804-633-6300