Exchange Hotel, 1909

The Exchange Hotel in Montgomery, Montgomery County, was one of three hotels in southern states owned by Sterling Lanier, paternal grandfather of poet, musician, and novelist Sidney Lanier (1842-1881). Sidney worked at the hotel from 1865 to 1867, during which time he wrote his only novel, Tiger-Lilies. Located at the intersection of Commerce and Montgomery Streets, this was the second incarnation of the building and was demolished in the 1970s.

Courtesy of the the Alabama Department of Archives and History