'Hotel That Never Was' Still Stands In Bristol

In a sense buildings, whether residential or business, are monuments to their builders.
It is so with what is now known as the Executive Plaza, formerly known as the Reynolds Arcade Building. Erected in 1925-26, it has always served as an office building, though it was meant to be a hotel. Its builder was Dr. Hardin W. Reynolds.
Dr. Reynolds was one of the older members of the Major Abram David and Sena Hogue Reynolds family. He was a nephew of R. J. Reynolds, the tobacco tycoon and a brother of R. S. Reynolds of Reynolds Metals fame.
He was born when the family still lived in their first Bristol home that was on Virginia Street and was delivered by Dr. Charles Taylor Pepper of the popular soft drink fame.
After Dr. Pepper left Bristol and moved to Rural Retreat, Va., Dr. W. N. (Nick) Vance became the family physician. It was this pioneer Bristol doctor who inspired young Hardin to choose the medical profession.
Dr. Vance also guided him to a medical college and helped him secure office space when he returned here to set up his practice. At the time, he chose the medical profession, he was working as a clerk in his father’s tobacco business at 43 4th St. The Reynolds, by then, had moved to a fine brick home at 32 4th St. that was in sight of the family business.
When young Dr. Reynolds returned to Bristol, he continued to live in his paternal home. By that time, Major Reynolds had built a grand Queen Anne-style mansion on Spruce Street, and it was here that young Dr. Reynolds returned and for a brief time practiced medicine from that house.
The house no longer stands, having been damaged by fire and demolished in the early to mid-1980s.
Dr. Reynolds had a good medical education, and it seemed that he would become a successful doctor here.
But there was a problem or two. He was, if it is possible, too kind and sympathetic. Day and night he was in a high state of concern and anxiety for his patients. He was especially devastated when he lost a patient and, being very fond of children, he was very much in sympathy with their sickened conditions. When a child died, he would remain devastated for days.
Too, business was in his blood. He became torn between what he termed “a calling to medicine” and his desire to engage in business pursuits. He, so to speak, was marching to a distant drumbeat, torn between two very strong desires.
One night, when he could not sleep, he arose about 2 a.m. and went into his father’s library. There, he picked up a book, just chosen at random from a shelf, in which a found an essay on this theme “to thyself be true.”
There he saw himself. His life was changed almost immediately. He dropped his medical practice and within a few days had organized the Reynolds Land Company that he directed for the rest of his life.
In this company with him was a younger brother, Abram D. Reynolds Jr., and on through the remainder of his life, he was in many business pursuits, some of them rather extensive and important to the town.
In 1910, he opened Bristol’s first Ford agency. This was the second automobile agency to operate in the town. By then, he was married, and his wife took an active part in the operation of the business, one of the first woman in Bristol to do so.
And, speaking of his wife, let me explain. The Reynolds’ owned a winter home in Del Ray Beach, Palm Beach County, Fla. Once, while taking a little vacation there, Hardin W. Reynolds met Ethel Romph. They were married soon thereafter.
Back in Bristol, they first lived at 224 Taylor St. In 1909, they built a large and grand house at 201 Pennsylvania Ave. Actually, it was on the corner of Pennsylvania and Taylor streets where now operates a convenience store and service station. This house stood until about 1981-82.
About 1924-25, the former McCrary home at 215 Lynwood St. became available. Mrs. Reynolds wanted it for one reason – it had a wonderful site for a rock garden that had been created by a former operating rock quarry. The Reynolds bought and moved to this house. When I came to Bristol in 1953, Mrs. Reynolds, then a widow, lived there.
In 1919-20, Hardin W. Reynolds erected a large three-story building on what is now the parking lot between the Citizens Bank and the railroad. It fronted on State Street.
Some people called it the Reynolds Building, but there would be a greater one later as we shall soon see.
The building just mentioned had business units fronting on State Street, and the local YWCA operated a hotel for that group on the second and third floors. A grocery store was there for years and was still operating when I came to Bristol. It was there that I bought my first groceries in this city.
In the mid-1920s, Mr. Reynolds decided that the town was ready for another hotel. The building was planned, and construction had begun when Mr. Reynolds learned that brothers Riley and James Stone were planning a large hotel near the depot.
The three businessmen got together and for their mutual benefit made an agreement. The Stones would build what became the General Shelby Hotel.
Mr. Reynolds changed his plans and erected a business building. Many firms and businesses have had offices there during the intervening years. For several years, the Bristol, Va., post office was located in the part of the building that was planned to be the dining room and kitchen area.
Today, this downtown landmark, known as the Executive Plaza, still stands as a fitting monument to its builder.

BUD PHILLIPS is a local historian and author. He can be reached at (276) 466-6435.