Berea ยท College Square
Boone Tavern Hotel of Berea College
Berea College's 1909 hotel, built with bricks from its own brickyard and furnished by hand in the college's woodcraft shop.
- Built
- 1909Built as a hotel by Berea College from 1907 to 1909 to designs by the New York firm Cady & See, with bricks from the college brickyard and labor largely from its woodwork department.
- Style
- Colonial Revival
- Architect
- Cady & See
- Type
- Inn
- Rooms
- 63
- Area
- College Square
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Historic Hotels of America member
The story
Eleanor Frost, wife of Berea College president William G. Frost, pressed for the hotel after the couple hosted more than 300 visitors at the president’s house in one summer. It was named for Daniel Boone, with ‘tavern’ in its old sense of a public inn, and stood on the Dixie Highway through town. Students worked as clerks, bellhops and servers as part of the college’s labor program, and guests have included Calvin and Grace Coolidge, Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry Ford and Maya Angelou. HHA calls it the first LEED-certified hotel in Kentucky; its furniture is made by hand in the college’s woodcraft shop.
Good to know
- Pets welcome
- Address: 100 Main St N, Berea, KY 40403
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.