As we prepare to go past the Carolina and the Nissen, the R.J. Reynolds building begins to dominate our view down the street. Before we get to the R.J.R. Building, we'll pass the O'Hanlon Building on the left (in this view, it's the brick building immediately in front of the Reynolds Building). More about the O'Hanlon in just a moment.

Meanwhile, if we take a left just after the Carolina Hotel, and go down a block, we'll find the Hotel Robert E. Lee on Fifth Street.

The 12-story Robert E. Lee was completed in 1921. It served Winston-Salem as a premier hotel and a center of the local social scene for many years. The caption on the back of the card:

THE ROBERT E. LEE HOTEL, located at Winston-Salem, N.C. is in service, furnishings, and equipment one of the best in the famous Piedmont Resort Section. It was built at a cost of one and three-fourths million dollars; has 350 rooms, each with private bath, and no expense has been spared to make this hotel the very last word in modernity.

The postcard below has this same caption on the back, and shows some of the interior features of the hotel.

The coffee shop at the Robert E. Lee was something special. Not only was it air conditioned, it was also a "Coffee-Shoppe"– a hyphen and the extra "pe" on the end. No word as to whether or not the shoppe was under the supervision of a lady dietician.

The Robert E. Lee was demolished in 1972, to make way for a new Hyatt Hotel (now an Adam's Mark).