The Hatcher Hotel in Pikeville, built in 1931, contained 106 rooms, all equipped with ice-cold running water. It was erected at a cost of $250,000 and was managed by Hatcher himself. In its spacious lobby was a small museum displaying ox-yokes, ancient hand-made furniture, weapons of bygone days, a huge, old-fashioned fireplace, and utensils used by early Pike and Floyd County settlers. The walls of the lobby were covered with Pike and Floyd County historical data, favorite mottos, and philosophical sayings. In one room of the hotel Hatcher kept on display his own coffin, which had been fashioned out of a walnut tree that had once stood on the hotel’s lawn.
By: Robert Perry
James Hatcher
