By Bob Weaver
The Rainbow Hotel in Grantsville is no longer standing.
Perhaps the most historic event the hotel could tell was a meeting between Calhoun politico Lorentz Carr Hamilton and Robert Kennedy in 1960, they meeting on the porch to plan how John F. Kennedy could carry Calhoun during the presidential election.
It was vote buying days, a political "necessity" of the time for all parties, thankfully fading in WV, except a few southern counties.
Kennedy asked Hamilton how much cash, with Hamilton saying he didn't know.
Kennedy went to his car trunk and gave Hamilton $10,000.
Then Hamilton obtained a position in Washington after JFK was elected, before returning to Grantsville.
- Source: In-person with Lorentz Hamilton-Bob Weaver |