OUR HISTORY
The original property was first opened as the Hotel Portsmouth in 1945. It is believed that President Harry Truman roomed there during his visit to the shipyard, but the old hotel books are now lost, so that cannot be proven. The name was changed a decade later to the Hotel Governor Dinwiddie, to honor the Colonial Governor of Virginia. Four descendants of the governor were present at the renaming ceremony. The Hotel Governor Dinwiddie remained a downtown beacon of social and civic life through the 1960s. It then became a residence for the elderly and low-income, and was purchased by the Wimbrough family who had just redeveloped the interior of the old YMCA building in the same block.
Through the efforts of the Greater Portsmouth Development Corporation, a buyer was sought who would return the property to its original luster. Preceded by over 10 years of closure, and for the most part unattended, this goal was finally achieved when the hotel was reopened as the Hawthorn Hotel & Suites at the Governor Dinwiddie on April 1, 2005, after an extensive total property renovation. The official ribbon cutting ceremony was held on August 19, 2005 for both the hotel and the adjacent Revolution Restaurant & Bar, and was presided over by Portsmouth mayor, Dr. James W. Holley III.
On September 1, 2008, the hotel began operating again as the Governor Dinwiddie Hotel, standing as a proud independent hotel anchoring a bustling Main Street area of downtown Portsmouth, Virginia. Traditions started many years ago are alive to today in the classically restored and updated facility designed to respect the history and serve the needs of today’s travelers.