City of Bristol
“Usually as a town grows, buildings tend to become taller.
It was so in early Bristol but at a slower pace than might have been expected. Lots,
both business and residential, long were very cheap. Many sold for $100-125. If
space was required for expansion, it was more feasible to buy another lot
instead of building higher.
It is true that the first building in Bristol was two-story
but the building was low precluding any possibility of adding rooms. However
when Dr. B.F. Zimmerman erected his two-story home (the first building in
Bristol, Va.,) he had a space for four rooms upstairs but they were never
finished. At that time, the town of Bristol extended to Beaver Creek where it
joined Goodsonville. The first hotel built here was the Columbian, erected
Bristol, Va., in 1854. It stood on what is now the parking lot in front of
First Baptist Church. It was only two stories tall and the upper story was
rather low. That was true of the second and third hotels that opened in quick
succession after the Columbian.
As the town spread down Main (now State Street), many of the
business houses were one-story with a two-story interspersed among them here and
there. One of these fully two-story buildings became the Thomas House Hotel. It
occupied the lot where now stands the Paramount Theater.”
~Writes Bud Phillips of the Bristol Herald Courier
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