The Susie Agnes Hotel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is an intact example of a turn-of-the-century commercial and hotel building typically constructed in a small Georgia community. The building is the design of W.D. Calvin, a local Morgan County architect / builder who also designed several other buildings in Bostwick. The building was originally used as both hotel and commercial space and as a meeting space for the local Masonic Lodge.

Expecting continued growth and prosperity in the city, founder, John Bostwick, Sr. constructed the Susie Agnes Hotel in 1902 to house the growing number of traveling salesmen, or "drummers," who came through town, visiting the supply company, and also the oil press. The hotel was reportedly named for Bostwick's wife, Susie, and his sister, Agnes.

Bricks for the hotel were made from clay from Bostwick's own property. Two stories in height, the hotel followed the convention of smaller hotels of the era. Apparently, only the upper floor was used for hotel rooms. Nine rooms opened off the central hallway. The original kitchen, dining area, and lobby were located on the ground floor along the northwest side. Additional rooms, apparently used fro an apartment for the hotel manager and his family, were also on the ground floor. Bathrooms were located at the rear on both the ground and upper floors. The rear of the second floor was devoted mainly to a Masonic Hall, which Bostwick, an active Mason, provided for the local lodge. A separate staircase provided access from the alley to the southeast.

The southeast side ground floor was used for commercial purposes from the beginning. The space consisted of a single room, separated from the original hotel lobby, kitchen and dining room by a plank partition wall. The store was conceived of by John Bostwick, Sr. as a provision store - a use that continued under various owners through the 1970s. Under and with rail-mounted ladders, most of which remain in place today. There was also a screened store office window, at one time located near the entrance, dating from approximately 1915 but now moved to the rear of the lower floor. A well to the north provided water, pumped by a small engine to a steel cistern above. Water was then supplied by gravity to both the floors of the adjacent hotel.

As John Bostwick, Sr. had hoped, traveling salesmen stayed for a night at the hotel, eating in the downstairs communal dining area and sitting around the front lobby. The store met the provision needs of the community. Local farmers received credit and paid bills in the store, a practice passed on to successive owners.

After the bankruptcy of Bostwick's development company in 1910, the hotel was deeded to the Monroe Oil and Fertilizer Company. Z.E. Betts and his wife purchased the hotel business in 1916 after apparently having run the business for the three previous years. The deed was held by Mrs. Mattie Betts. The Bettses altered the building to have a residence on the second floor and a grocery business on the ground floor. The Masonic Hall was converted to a kitchen and the front rooms became private sitting rooms. The hotel lobby was converted to a store and small credit business associated with the store business. Plumbing was provided for an upstairs kitchen. The small apartment at the rear of the ground floor was leased along with the Bostwick store space to another provision business. The Bettses screened in the upper gallery to provide additional seating and a summer bedroom. An additional shed appears to have been added around this time to provide a place for a barbershop run by a Mr. Fitzpatrick, according to James Betts, the son of Z.E. Betts. The shed has since been removed.

In 1925 Z.E. Betts left the business, moving his wife Mattie and five children to Atlanta. The hotel property was deeded to John S. Jackson in 1927. The drop in cotton prices and the boll weevil epidemic severely undermined the local economy. The Jacksons continued to run the business, sometimes combining the stores and at times maintaining two stores, until 1933. Jackson also appears to have installed a gas pump for passing motorists, as shown in a ca/ 1927 postcard of the property.

The hotel had a succession of renters in the late 1930's, including D.W. and B.H. Malcom and Hames W. McGaughey. In 1934, one store was also rented to a Col. Herbert Grant. The Malcoms finally purchased the property in 1945 from Mrs. Idelle Jackson, John S. Jackson's widow. It was sold in turn to Lamar McDougal and his wife, Rosie, in 1946. The McDouglas both ran a store and rented out one. At various times the stores were known as the Rosie McDougal Grocery, the Williams Grocery, the Rice Greene store, and the Anderson store. In the 1950s, John and Tommy Martin ran both stores. A gas pump, first installed in the 1920s was upgraded and the store doubled as a filling station. The property continued to operate occasionally as a boarding house as well, with guests taking meals in the rear second-story kitchen and using Room 14 as a common sitting room.

The store operations finally went out of business in the mid-1970s. The McDouglas eventually rented out parts of the building for storage and as a used furniture store. Joseph Conrad purchased the property in 1977, considering using the building for an antique shop, but sold to Gene and Yvonne Meader in 1986. The Meaders had also hoped to use the building as an antique store, but decided to sell, hopefully to another owner sympathetic to the old building.

Through funds raised by a group of local citizens, comprising the Save the Hotel Committee, the hotel was purchased from the Meaders and given to the City of Bostwick in 1993. With funds raised through The Annual Bostwick Cotton Gin Festival, grants, and donations, preservation work continues on the hotel. The Susie Agnes was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.