In 1890, Michael S. Gleason built the Gleason Hotel. Despite the lack of refrigeration, Gleason's Hotel was known for its great food. Breakfast and dinners were included in a night's stay. For the more refined travelers there was a separate tea room, while for the wanderer who just wanted to kick back his feet and relax the deep front porch with its rocking chairs offered quite a nap. Salesmen who travelled from town to town and state to state boasted that there was "not a finer place to dine." Thanks to the Southern Railway located acoss the street, business boomed for the Gleason's in the early part of the century. Eventually it became the largest continuously operated hotel in Charlottesville. However, by the twenties, with the mass production of the car, as train transportation slowed so did business at the Gleason Hotel. In 1925 the construction of the Monticello Hotel began, and soon after completion it became the place to stay in Charlottesville. In 1935 the Gleason Hotel exchanged hands and became the Albemarle Hotel. Today the building where the Gleason Hotel originally stood is now occupied by Quest Book Store. Dr. Rebecca McGinnis remembers the hotel with great pleasure, stating that African Americans often held social gatherings there. She also remembers an instance when Booker T. Washington, who normally lodged with his friend George Inge, traveled through Charlottesville and took shelter in the Gleason Hotel for the night.