Reinette Long Hunt
The Grove Museum
Reinette Long Hunt (1874-1940), grand-daughter of Ellen Call Long, owned The Grove from 1903 until her death in 1940. Reinette divorced her abusive husband in 1911, five years after divorce was legalized in Florida. She lived at The Grove as a single woman for three decades, at various times offering art classes, renting out rooms, and making and selling soaps and cosmetics. Reinette fought against the stigma of being a divorced woman, but found support in the local artistic community. As an artist, she earned extra income during the Great Depression by teaching painting classes, dance classes, and by writing and staging theatrical performances. Reinette operated The Grove as a hotel in the 1920s and 1930s. She capitalized on a growing tourism industry in Florida by marketing The Grove in postcards as the home of the Tallahassee Girl, a nineteenth century novel allegedly based on her aunt, Eleanora “Nonie” Hollinger. When you visit The Grove Museum, you can spot several reminders of The Grove’s time as a hotel still visible today, such as markings on upstairs floors from partition walls and call buttons installed for guests.