The Gilmore Hotel stood at the corner of Keller Street and Railroad Avenue (currently Blaize Ave.) from the 1890’s until the mid-1940’s. Located across the street from the train depot, it offered lodgings as well as spirits and tobacco to boarders. The proprietor was James Gilmore Fayard, Sr. Information about the hotel and its history comes from family history, a couple of brief newspaper entries, and the Sanborn maps of 1893—1944.
Family oral history from a granddaughter of Mr. Fayard provides some information about the business. She reports that her grandfather owned the hotel circa 1900, that it was located near the railroad tracks, and that it supposedly burned down. She says that her father, James Gilmore Fayard, Jr., was born in 1904 and spent summers in Bay St. Louis until at least 1919, traveling by train from New Orleans. His father lived and worked in Bay St. Louis, and his mother, siblings, and he lived in New Orleans for the children to attend school and for his mother to have medical care.
The granddaughter is unsure whether the hotel burned while her grandfather owned it or not because there is another version of the family story. This rendering says that Mr. Fayard went bankrupt and lost the hotel when alcohol running ships could no longer transport liquor to it. This legend suggests that he had the hotel during Prohibition in the 1920’s and that he lost it during that time.
In addition, information about Mr. Fayard and the hotel comes from two Sea Coast Echo articles, one dated May 20, 1893, and one dated October 7, 1893. The earlier entry reported that Mr. Fayard was the proprietor of the Railroad Exchange and kept “a quiet and orderly place,” which he had had for four years. He sold various kinds of alcohol and tobacco products. Mr. Fayard was described as a “genial good fellow” who enforced the “rules of the house.” This date gives evidence that he had been in business since 1889.
The later article in the Echo reported that Mr. Gilmore Fayard, the “live and wide-awake proprietor of the Railroad Exchange, had plans drawn for a magnificent saloon and hotel building to be erected in the rear of the railroad depot.” However, the Gilmore Hotel was located across the street from the depot. Is this the area described as “in the rear of the railroad depot”?
Further information comes from the Sanborn maps of Bay St. Louis. A building appears at the corner of Keller Street and Railroad Avenue from 1893 until 1944 as evidenced by the Sanborn maps of these years. In 1893 and 1898 a rectangular building, labeled “saloon” appears on the map. However, its footprint is different from the structure which appears in 1904, noted as the Gilmore Hotel. The 1909 map labels the same property as the Bancard Hotel. Subsequently, this property is identified as “saloon, rooms, and barber” in 1917, given no notation in 1924 [Perhaps, it was closed at this time?], labeled a hotel in 1930, and cited as “vacant” in 1944.
Since the footprint of the hotel remained the same from 1904—1944, one wonders if the saloon of the earlier maps is the Railroad Exchange. One also wonders if Mr. Fayard owned the hotel when it was named the Bancard. According to the granddaughter, he did because her father spent summers in Bay St. Louis until 1919. The question about when the hotel burned can be answered in a general way. The fire must have occurred sometime between the 1944 map and a subsequent update in 1963, for the latter map shows the corner of Kellar and Railroad Ave. as vacant.
An interesting aside about James Gilmore Fayard comes from long-time resident Edward “Buster” Heitzman. He remembers that Mr. Fayard gave wallets in the shape of beer kegs as souvenirs. Unfortunately, Mr. Heitzman lost his keepsake in Hurricane Katrina.
SOURCES:
“Fayard, Gilmore.” Vertical file. Hancock County Historical Society.
Sanborn Maps. Bay St. Louis, MS. New York: Sanborn Map Co., Ltd., 1893, 1898, 1904, 1909, 1917, 1924, 1930, 1944, 1963.
Scharff, Robert G. Louisiana’s Loss, Mississippi’s Gain. Lawrenceville, VA: Brunswick Publishing Corp., 1999.