Cavalier Hotel

KV-31

The Cavalier Hotel, completed in 1927, is emblematic of Virginia Beach's transformation from small town to major resort during the Roaring Twenties. The hotel’s luxurious accommodations attracted visitors from across the country, including several U.S. presidents. Its 500-watt radio station, WSEA, was the first to report on the return of Charles Lindbergh to the United States after his transatlantic flight in 1927. The Cavalier Beach Club regularly hosted big band performances featuring international stars. During World War II, the U.S. Navy operated a radar training school at the hotel. The Classical Revival building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Department of Historic Resources, 2018

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Cavalier Hotel, National Register of Historic Places nomination form (2014). Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 4, 5, 8, 10 May, 11 June 1927. Washington Post, 19 June 1927. Richmond Times-Dispatch, 8 April 1927, 2 June 1945. Jonathan Mark Souther, “Twixt Ocean and Pines: The Seaside Resort at Virginia Beach, 1880-1930,” (MA Thesis, University of Richmond, 1996). Anthony Rudel, Hello, Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio (Orlando: Harcourt, 2008). Anthony J. Stanonis, Faith in Bikinis: Politics and Leisure in the Coastal South since the Civil War (Athens and London: University of Georgia Press, 2014). Stephen S. Mansfield, Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach: A Pictorial History (Norfolk and Virginia Beach: The Donning Company, 1989).