Nestled in the clouds atop
beautiful
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Nestled in the clouds atop
beautiful
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Excerpts from: |
| "Like the stars that come out at night to
brighten the night sky and to fade at dawn, so in a way is the town of
Mentone, Alabama, ephemeral. At times past it has sparkled brilliantly; at
times faded, only to return and radiate its quiet charm... The French city of Menton has been described as meaning "Musical Mountain Spring". Mentone, Alabama, was named by Alice Mason, young daughter of John Mason, father/founder of the town, who in 1884 at the request of Dr. Frank Caldwell, builder of the Mentone Springs Hotel, gave the town its name. The doctor had visited the mountain while ill, and his health was restored after drinking the mineral spring water. The hotel flourished until the late twenties, when much of America's economy went into decline. To cover its debts, it was sold in 1946 to Norville Hall, a professional organist who added an organ to the first floor with pipes that extended all the way to the attic. The Mentone Springs Hotel sits majestically on the west brow of Lookout Mountain at Mentone overlooking the vast expanse of valleys and hills to the west with a brilliant view of sunsets. The architectural style is Queen Anne of the Victorian period, of frame construction with seven gables, turrets, dormer windows and verandahs...The hotel was a popular resort attracting guests from near and far-away states... Mentone is located on Lookout Mountain in the northeastern part of the state of Alabama. Lookout Mountain is eighty-three miles long. It is a part of the Cumberland Plateau of the Appalachian chain which begins in Maine and ends at Gadsden, Alabama. Mentone is about midway between the northern and southern tip of Lookout Mountain and has a comfortable elevation of between 1,700 and 1,800 feet high... The earth has heard the silent sounds of Indian moccasins, the footsteps of legendary Welshmen, the British, Spanish, French explorers and traders with a sprinkling of the Scottish and Irish. |