Andrew Jackson set up military headquarters on this spot during the War of 1812, and two hotels rose and burned here before James Battle and his half-nephews built the first Battle House in 1852, a four-story brick building with cast-iron galleries. It became known as Mobile’s living room. Stephen A. Douglas was staying there the night he lost the presidency to Abraham Lincoln, and the guest list over the decades included Jefferson Davis, Henry Clay, and Millard Fillmore.
That original building burned in 1905, and architect Frank M. Andrews designed its replacement, which opened in 1908 as one of Alabama’s first steel-frame buildings. President Woodrow Wilson stayed there in 1913. The Sheraton Corporation ran the hotel until it closed in 1974, and it sat empty for nearly three decades until the Retirement Systems of Alabama restored it, reopening in 2007. It’s been a Historic Hotels of America member since 2009.