Built in 1910 on the site of an earlier wooden hotel structure, The Palmer Building was known then as the Eubank Hotel. The impressive structure is about 7,500 square feet. Built solidly with three layers of brick and a metal roof, it is three stories tall with four dormer windows in front and three on either side. The expansive building offers high ceilings on the first floor, hardwood floors throughout, and an abundance of natural light and original moldings. In its heyday, the hotel had nine guest bedrooms on each of the second and third floors with shared bathrooms. A narrow third-floor staircase still leads to a cupola at the top of the building that offers the best view in town. It has been reported that the cupola also served as a conservatory. Orange and lemon trees thrived in the cupola’s warm space. The lemons were used in pies made for hotel guests.

 The earlier wood-structured hotel, also named the Eubank Hotel, was built around 1891 by Kilmarnock businessmen and brothers W. A. “Gus” and William “Willie” Eubank. It was a destination for Northern Neck visitors and a local event venue.

In the late 19th-century, Kilmarnock was known as the “New York of the Northern Neck.” It was a time of prosperity and commercial growth, and Kilmarnock was the center of commerce in the Northern Neck. In addition to the hotel, the Eubank brothers owned a general store and livery stable in town. They built a steamboat wharf at the end of what’s known today as Waverly Avenue in 1901, and a year later constructed a fish factory to capitalize on the thriving menhaden fishing industry.