[This is the sixth in a series of articles covering the long, rich history of the Springhaven Inn, built in 1888 in Blowing Rock, NC. Springhaven Inn is for sale. A group of town residents, with the Blowing Rock Historical Society, BRAHM, and Preserve Mecklenburg, Inc. (PMI), is working to save the structure. We are actively looking for a buyer or buyers for the property willing to keep the outside structure of the historic inn. Otherwise, it is in jeopardy of being torn down. If the property is demolished, this physical evidence of the history at the very core of Blowing Rock will be gone forever. We think it is worthy of being saved. If you would like to learn more about how you can be involved in the effort to save this property, contact Tommy Lee at either 704-737-5609 or tommy@appiantextiles.com.]
Post-World War II: Travel Increases
The post-World War II years were pivotal in the history of the Bark Inn/Springhaven Inn. Sallie Cheatham hired John Reineking (1891-1968) as manager of the Inn in 1942. Reineking had recently moved to Blowing Rock from Brooklyn NY to pursue his interest in real estate investments and had ample ambition. He advertised in many newspapers in the larger cities of the Carolinas to attract visitors to the Bark Inn.
Being an adroit entrepreneur, Reineking purchased the Inn from Sallie Cheatham in 1945, reasoning that Blowing Rock stood on the cusp of another period of rapid growth. With war rationing over, automobiles were readily available again and gasoline was no longer difficult to obtain. Families were traveling again and people were coming to the mountains to enjoy the scenery along the Blue Ridge Parkway. And, these travelers needed a place to stay!
John Reineking Makes Changes at the Inn
John and his wife Margaret were members of Blowing Rock Methodist Church where Margaret played the organ and piano at weddings as well as other public events. John was a man who scrutinized the balance sheet and, in doing so, determined that the amount of money he could make as an innkeeper depended on the number of bedrooms he could rent. As a result, he built a large two-story addition on the rear of the Inn in 1945-1946. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the addition, the irreplaceable chestnut bark shingles that had covered the exterior walls of the Inn since 1902 were removed.
The removal of the bark shingles meant that the Inn couldn’t be called the “Bark Inn” anymore, so Reineking selected “Springhaven Inn” as the name and he opened it year-round, not just in the summer. The business must not have been as successful as Reineking had expected because he listed it for sale in 1952; however, no acceptable offers were presented.
This drawing is the only known depiction of the Springhaven Inn that shows the front elevation after John Reineking altered the building in 1945-1946. Currently, it hangs in the hallway of the Inn.
The property became a residential rental and Margaret taught piano lessons there, though they never used the house as their residence. John Reineking died in 1968 in a Lenoir hospital. Margaret retained ownership and continued to rent rooms until she sold the Springhaven Inn to realtor Alex Hallmark in September 1977. She left the Inn in a somewhat dilapidated condition, but there were tenants. Among them was the fresco painter Ben Long.
Here is a picture of Patricia Moser who is 92 and lives in Nashville TN. She took piano lessons from Margaret Reineking at Springhaven Inn in the 1940s.
Next week, we will see how artists become a common thread in the fabric and history of the Inn.
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