The Grand Hotel in
Point Clear, Alabama, overlooking
Mobile Bay, is a historic hotel originally built in 1847.
It is listed on the
National Registry of the Historic Hotels of America
Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels that have maintained their authenticity, sense of pla ...
and has been added to the
Autograph Collection by Marriott. The original hotel was two-stories with 40 guest rooms. As of 2020, the Grand Hotel boasts over 400 rooms across five buildings, including an extensive
spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...
area of 20,000 square feet.
Point Clear in World War II
In 1944, Point Clear's Grand Hotel served as the base of operations for
Operation Ivory Soap in
World War II. In the Pacific Theater, the United States utilized the
Leapfrogging (strategy) as a means of capturing islands held by the Japanese that were of strategic or tactical advantage. The Commander of the U.S. Army Air Corps,
Henry "Hap" Arnold, understood the American planes needed mobile air depots to support their efforts in the Pacific. Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Thompson, oversaw Operation Ivory Soap from a Suite in the Grand Hotel. The Nineteenth Century Alabama Hotel housed soldiers and served as a maritime training facility training troops in skills including swimming, special calisthenics, marching, drill, navigation, ship identification, signaling, cargo handling, ship orientation, sail making and amphibious operations. The school produced 5000 trained Army seamen who took part in operations in the
Philippines,
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high.
...
, and
Guam. The training these troops received thanks to Operation Ivory Soap allowed the soldiers to help save countless lives and aircraft. The name "Ivory Soap" according to Col. Thompson was derived from the fact that like the experimental Aircraft Repair Units the military wanted to deploy, ivory soap floats. The Grand Hotel is still in operation on the eastern shore of
Mobile Bay today.
References
Hotels in Alabama
Baldwin County, Alabama
Historic Hotels of America
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