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The '''San Carlos Hotel''', sometimes called the '''Hotel San Carlos''' and affectionately dubbed the '''Gray Lady of Palafox''', was a grand and revered hotel in Pensacola for much of the 20th century.
The San Carlos Hotel was the project of local businessmen [[James Muldon]] and [[F.F. Bingham]], who saw the need for the kind of upscale hotel being erected in larger cities. Regarding the site, their original choice was the northeast corner of [[Palafox Street|Palafox]] and [[Garden Street]]s, which had no significant structures at the time (but would soon be occupied by the [[Isis Theatre]]). However, they instead purchased the northwest corner from the [[First Methodist Church]], which was relocating to [[Wright Street]].
The hotel was designed by New York architect [[W. L. Stoddard]] and erected by local firm [[C. H. Turner]] Construction Co. at a cost of $500,000. A sturdy beam-and-girder structural system, designed to withstand [[hurricane]] winds, was covered by ceramic tile and stucco. Ground was broken in April of [[1909]], and construction was completed in [[1910]]. It opened its doors on the first day of [[Mardi Gras]] celebrations. The hotel had its own well, with a rooftop cistern and purification system, and the original 157 rooms each had an exterior window and modern furnishings.
