The Pierce Moore Hotel - One of Many Boarding Houses

 

The Pierce Moore Hotel, date unknown

Built 1926 by Grace Timanda Piercy in 1926, the Pierce Moore hotel was on the corner of West Main and Oaklawn and originally had 21 rooms. Piercy was originally from Yancey County but moved to Transylvania County in the early 1920s and worked for the Silversteen family. There are differing accounts of what her job duties were, including being a seamstress and a cook; it’s possible she did whatever domestic tasks were needed. She struck out on her own to build and run the Pierce Moore Hotel in 1926, and Joseph Silversteen is said to have visited the dining room frequently for her home-cooked meals. When Piercy, who never married, was naming the hotel, she chose to combine her mother’s maiden name, Moore, with her own last name, Piercy, but dropped the “y” because she thought it sounded better. The endeavor was successful enough to justify a fifteen-room addition to the building in 1939.

Guest rules from the Pierce Moore Hotel

In February of 1945, a serious fire caused $25,000 worth of damage (equivalent to $391,000 in 2022) on the second floor and attic area. The blaze resulted in the death of one man, the hospitalization of another, and the arrest of two others pending an investigation of foul play. All four men were from Providence, RI and were staying at the hotel while they did contract work for the Ecusta Paper Corporation. The four had been having a late-night party in the room of the man who perished. Although his body was found in the fire-damaged hotel, the cause of death was a cut artery in his arm, a wound supposedly inflicted as he tried to escape. In the end, the two suspects were released, and all of the Rhode Islanders returned home. It was the first serious fire in the area since the 1918 Tannery fire, and it prompted the Brevard Fire Department to invest in upgrading equipment and training additional volunteers.

Miraculously, the Pierce Moore Hotel underwent repairs and reopened a mere six months later. In the height of its popularity, it was a known social center with dances and Sunday dinners. It hosted long term tenants, including families who stayed there through the summer to escape the heat of cities. It closed in 1965 when Piercy moved across the street to a smaller residence on Oaklawn which she operated as a seven-room boarding house until her death in 1979. After Grace Piercy’s passing, the majority of the original hotel was demolished. What is left now is the back part of the hotel, which is in disrepair and is scheduled to be demolished, along with other buildings on the property, in mid-April of this year.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Gardner. For more information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.