History of the lowe hotel

Formerly The Spencer Hotel

The Lowe Hotel, originally known as The Spencer Hotel, is a historic landmark in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Built in 1904 at the corner of Main and Fourth Streets in the heart of the Point Pleasant Historic District. It was commissioned in honor of J.S. Spencer, a local financier, and initially operated by brothers Homer and Griff Smith.

The hotel opened with grandeur: its ground floor housed a lobby, a barber shop, a bar & grill, dry goods rooms, banking rooms (for Merchants National Bank), a ladies’ reception area, a billiards room, and other first-floor amenities. Guest rooms were on the upper floors, and the building also featured a mezzanine and a grand ballroom.

RENAMED The LOWE HOTEL

In 1929, following the stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression, ownership changed: the Lowe family purchased the building and renamed it the Lowe Hotel.

At that time, the hotel was closed, but opened up for local community, civic, and church gatherings under its new stewardship.

Over the decades the building has remained in use, and in 1990 it was bought by Rush and Ruth Finley, who preserved the hotel and its historic features, updated it where needed, and maintained its sense of old‐world charm while keeping amenities up to date.