Beatley’s Hotel

Jack Beatley came to Russells Point in 1914. He met Miss Lillian Krouskop, who was in charge of the Post Office, and they were married shortly thereafter. At first, Jack managed the Hotel Russells Point and took care of delivering ice. In 1921, Jack Beatley built his own hotel at what is now Holiday Shore, just south of the bridge to Orchard Island. The initial hotel had only ten rooms.

Jack Beatley and his wife continued to expand the hotel, which was open only during the summer months. By 1927, the hotel had seventy-six guest rooms. The Beatleys spent the winter in Miami Beach, where Mrs. Beatley got ideas for improving the hotel and adding new features such as neon and fluorescent lights.

Soon after the first hotel opened, Jack Beatley added a bar and dining room that could seat up to two hundred people. He continued enlarging the dining room to accommodate more than three hundred guests.

Twenty-seven two-story cottages were built next to the hotel. Jack Beatley hired mostly college students to work at the resort. To accommodate these temporary employees, he built a dorm for the female waitresses and a separate round house for the men.

The hotel continued to prosper into the early 1970s. But Jack Beatley Jr got tired of the hotel and resort business, perhaps also because the Amusement Park had closed and business declined. All the buildings were demolished, starting with the girl’s dorm for the female summer employees. By the end of 1972, the main hotel had been torn down and the land was turned into a mobile home park. A public auction of the contents of the hotel was held the weekend of 23-24 September, 1972.