ROBBINS' REBOUND: Terri Holt's downtown hotel signals renewed interest in a Moore County textile town.

• Author: Bym, Jonathan

When Terri Holt's family purchased several storefronts a few years ago in the heart of Robbins, there were many voids that the small town in northern Moore County needed to be filled. So Holt's family took on the challenge.

The business properties have turned into a tavern, coffee shop, license plate agency and bakery to revitalize the downtown area, but one necessity was missing. After four years of off-again, on-again work, lodging at Solomons Inn is now an option in Robbins for the first time in several decades.

"There was just a general need for it and we needed to do something with this building when we were renovating it," Holt says. "It was necessary to bring people here for them to stay. Nobody can stay anywhere in town."

Named after Holt's grandfather, Solomon Cornelius Stewart, a lifelong resident who passed away in 1958, the 2,400-square-foot space is the newest storefront to reopen on the main road passing through Robbins.

Until recently, Moore County's growth had largely bypassed Robbins, which relied on textiles for generations. The town of about 1,200 people is a 30-minute drive north of Pinehurst. The downtown storefronts owned by the Holt family have brought foot traffic back, and local leaders are optimistic about an unnamed company that's eyeing a vacant industrial site.

"Certain businesses will fit our area. We take pride in being a blue-collar town that wants people to have skills and go to work, whether that's high-end technical or medium skill," Town Manager Clint Mack says.

Now those business prospects will have a place to stay when they visit. Robbins has been the center of a lodging desert of sorts. Holt had heard stories of visitors in the past looking for a place to stay.

"For people that have weddings, funerals, people that don't want family staying with them, anything like that, it s needed out here," he says.

Solomon's Inn offers three private rooms--two have a king bed--but the most frequently occupied room is the largest of the three, with two queen beds. The rooms and lobby are furnished with antique furniture that Holt's...