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Texas | Architecture

"ROOMS WITH A PAST"

TEXAS HOTELS
BUILT BEFORE 1950

Texas' old hotels and their stories

TOPICS:
Historic Hotels and Inns of Texas
Haunted Hotels
Hotel Stories
More Images of Old Texas Hotels
"Rooms With A Past" - USA

Haunted Hotels


Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas
The Haunted Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells
Photo courtesy Jason Grant
  • The Ghosts of the Baker Hotel by Bob Hopkins

  • Catarina Hotel by Mike Cox

  • Ghosts of the Crazy Water Hotel by Bob Hopkins

  • Schulenburg's Heartbreak Hotel, The Uninvited at the Von Minden

  • The Gibraltar Hotel Text and photos by Robin Jett

  • The Haunted Railroad Hotel of Piedras Negras by Luke Warm


  • Historic Hotels and Inns of Texas


    Nimitz
  • The Nimitz: Hotel with a History by Michael Barr
  • Nimitz
  • The Nimitz Hotel - Amazing Hospitality by Michael Barr 5-10-22
  • Menger
  • Menger Hotel
  • Two White Elephants
  • Texas’ Two White Elephant Hotels
    Big Spring’s Settles and Mineral Wells’ Baker
  • Ostrow
  • Checking In With John Ostrow by Michael Barr 5-29-22

  • Hotels listed in alphabetical order

  • Alcalde Hotel, Gonzales, Texas

  • Antlers Hotel, Diboll, Texas by Bob Bowman
    "The afternoon the building burned, hundreds of Dibollians stood watching the fire, tears streaming down their faces. Older Dibollians still recall “the day the town cried.”

  • The Antlers Hotel in Kingsland by Michael Barr

  • Aumont Hotel, Seguin, Texas

  • Baker Hotel, Mineral Wells c. 1929 by Johnny Stucco

  • Bay-Tex Hotel c. 1929, Bay City

  • Blacktone Hotel, razed. Tyler, Texas

  • Blazilmar, Taylor, Texas

  • Bluebonnet Hotel, Sweetwater, Texas by Mike Cox
    Now surrounded by so many 200-foot tall wind turbines that it has become the wind power capital of the nation, Sweetwater used to have a more traditional skyscraper – the seven-story Bluebonnet Hotel...

  • Brown Hotel, Chico, Texas

  • Llano's Dabbs Hotel, Llano, Texas by Michael Barr 1-15-24
    "The Dabbs Hotel in Llano has been an overnight stop for travelers and a weekend getaway for romantics for over a century. Past guests included railroad workers, miners, prospectors, cowboys, college students, racoons and the ghosts of Bonnie and Clyde."

  • Doering Hotel, Temple, Texas
    aka The Hotel Hawn by Johnny Stucco

  • Former El Capitan Hotel in Van Horn, 1929

  • Fanthorp Inn - A Frontier Hotel by Bob Bowman
    "During the early days of the Republic of Texas, stagecoaches rumbled across East Texas, carrying passengers from one distant community to another... Some roadside homeowners saw the need and opened their homes to the passengers. As a result, many pioneer homes evolved into some of East Texas' best known stagecoach inns."

  • Fink's Hotel - All were welcome at Fink's Hotel in Hallettsville by Murray Montgomery
    It has been said that Mr. and Mrs. A. Finkelstein always had a room in their hotel and a home-cooked meal for any who appeared at the door. From the richest dignitary to poorest hobo, the Finkelsteins made room for all – even those with no money to pay...

  • Hotel Galvez History Cartoon by Roger T. Moore

  • Gibraltar Hotel Text and photos by Robin Jett
    "The Gibraltar Hotel was once Paris’ shining glory...."

  • Gholson Hotel, Ranger, Texas
    Excerpted from the book Wood Derricks, Iron Men and Gold Women by Don Champion

  • Harlan Hotel in Rankin by Mike Cox
    Like a battered medieval castle, the empty red brick building stood for years on the hill overlooking the West Texas oil town of Rankin in Upton County... The building was the old Harlan Hotel, opened for business at the height of the oil boom as a competitor of the Yates Hotel...

  • The Hexagon Hotel by Mike Cox
    In Mineral Wells


  • Alpine’s Holland Hotel by Mike Cox
    Brewster County rancher John Holland built the hotel in 1912 just across from the town’s railroad depot. Though Alpine had neither dikes nor tulips, in pondering what to name his new inn, Holland saw Holland Hotel as imminently suitable.

  • Hot Wells Hotel, San Antonio,Texas by Mike Cox
    What the caretaker is guarding are the ruins of the old Hot Wells Hotel, a place that early in the 20th century was one of the Alamo City's prime resort spots.

  • Kyle Hotel in Temple Today

  • La Posada Hotel, Laredo, Texas by Mike Cox
    "... In addition to the old high school, the hotel incorporates another structure that had been a convent..."

  • Lamar Hotel, Houston, Texas
    The 8-F Crowd by Bob Bowman
    "... Often referred to as the "unofficial capital of Texas," Suite 8-F ... was the meeting place for Houston's business leaders from the late 1930s to the 1960s...."

  • Texarkana's McCartney Hotel
    Photos and Notes by Jimmy Ramsey

  • Hotel McCartney - A Look Inside Texarkana's Ten-Story Ghost
    Photos by Ken Rudine and Officer Grant Gildon

  • Menger Hotel

  • Old Bill the Menger Alligator by Michael Barr

  • Murchison Hotel by Bob Bowman

  • Nimitz Hotel by Mike Cox

  • Orient Hotel, Pecos, Texas
    Now West of the Pecos Museum

  • Ostrow Hotel, Fredericksburg, Texas by Michael Barr

  • Saving the Pearl in Johnson City by Michael Barr

  • Plaza Hotel, Seguin, Texas

  • Powell Hotel, Newton, Texas

  • Prairie Ladies Inn, Crosbyton, Texas
    Texas historic landmark. Originally the Crosbyton Inn (1908), the area's first hotel.

  • Redlands Hotel, Palestine, Texas

  • Settles Hotel, Big Spring

  • Simpson Hotel, Seagraves, Texas

  • Southern Hotel, New Birmingham, Texas (From "First Iron Smelting Attempt In Texas Ended In Ashes" by W. T. Block)

  • Stagecoach Inn, Hochheim, Texas

  • Little Tee Pee(s) on the Prairie by Johnny Stucco
    Photos courtesty Ken Rudine & Blue Dolphin Investments LP

  • Texas Tourist Camp and Petrified Wood Gas Station, Decatur, Texas. by Robin Jett

  • Tarpon Inn, Port Aransas

  • Old Turner Hotel Uncovered by Hallettsville Fire by Murray Montgomery

  • The White Wing Hotel by Mike Cox
    Born with great expectations in the optimistic post-World War II days, death came 63 years later amid gangs and drug dealers. Only this was a brick and mortar Baby Boomer, not a person. Nevertheless, when the end came, it was not pretty.

  • William Penn Hotel, Houston, and William Penn, the Man
    by John Troesser. Photos courtesy Lauren Meyers
    Hotel demolished in January 2006

  • Yates Hotel in Rankin by Mike Cox
    Rankin’s old Yates Hotel, now the town’s museum


    Historical Markers:
  • Site of Carry Nation's Hotel Historical Marker

  • McCartney
  • Texarkana's McCartney Hotel

  • Grim
  • Texarkana's Hotel Grim


  • Hotel Stories

    Fort Worth fire
  • Fort Worth's Spring Palace opening night fire by Mike Cox
  • Six-Shooter Junction by Mike Cox

  • Old Bill the Menger Alligator by Michael Barr

  • The Oil Camp Boarding House - Hearty Food - Dainty Waitresses and No Tipping by Mike Cox
    The best cook in West Texas’s storied Yates Field... The accommodation Mrs. Rice operated fed employees and occasional visitors at the Mid-Kansas Oil Co.’s Camp No. 2 in Pecos County.

  • Jamming at the Rice Hotel by Mike Cox
    But imagine some 3,000 people crowded into a hotel lobby on a sultry summer afternoon waiting to use the elevators in the days before air conditioning...

  • Lincoln Slept Here? by Mike Cox
    The “Lincoln slept here” assertion appeared in a Texas newspaper referred to a historic hostelry in New Braunfels.

  • Yocum's Inn: The Devil's Own Lodging by W. T. Block
    "A gentleman's life...held no attraction for Squire Yocum, a man who literally was nursed almost from the cradle on murder and rapine, and for many years Yocum's Inn was actually a den of robbers and killers..."

  • Miss Rita of Beaumont's Dixie Hotel by John Troesser
    The Philanthropic Madam of Oil City

  • Cromer Hotel of Cross Plains

  • Motels by Mike Cox
    After hitting the more-traveled U.S. highway at Claude, the next county seat town I passed through was Clarendon. That’s where I saw a local overnight place called the It’ll Do Motel...

  • More Texas Hotel Images

    motels
  • Texas Motels, Old Neon & Ghost Signs

  • Old neon series 2
  • Texas Hotel Old Neon
  • (Including vintage photos or post cards)
    Hotels listed in alphabetical order :

  • Alamo Tourist Court, Waco
  • Algerita Hotel, Post
  • Algona Hotel, Llano
  • Alto Lodge, Alpine
  • Hotel Amarillo, Amarillo
  • Aransas Pass old hotel, 2-story old brick building
  • Artesia Hotel, Terrell
  • Baker Hotel, Colorado City
  • Baker Hotel, Dallas
  • Ballinger Hotel, Ballinger
  • Bankhead Hotel, Strawn
  • Hotel Bishop, Bishop
  • Blackstone Hotel (former), Tyler
  • Blessing Hotel
  • Bo-Tex Motel, Bowie
  • Boston Hotel, Carbon
  • Hotel Brady, Brady
  • Breckenridge
  • Bradley Cottage, Tioga
  • Brownwood Hotels - Brownwood, Southern, Plaza, Castle Court
  • Cactus Hotel, San Angelo
  • Capitol Hotel, Amarillo
  • Caprock Hotel, Claud
  • Cedar Station Tourist Court
  • Childress Hotel, Childress
  • Circle Inn neon sign, Dallas
  • Comfort Hotel Comfort, Coldwater
  • Commercial Hotel, Floydada
  • Corn Hill
  • Cortez, Weslaco
  • Cottle Hotel, Paducah
  • Cottage Hotel - Miami
  • Crawford Hotel, Big Spring
  • Cuero
  • De Soto Hotel, Dalhart
  • Dixie Motel, Burton
  • Hotel Edinburg, Edinburg
  • Hotel El Jardin, Brownsville
  • Elm Court, Hereford
  • The Falls Hotel, Conrad Hilton's Eighth, Marlin
  • Hotel Fowlerton, Fowlerton
  • Franklin Hotel, Llano
  • Gilmer Hotel, Rocksprings
  • Glen Rose Hotel
  • Goober Hotel, Gorman
  • Grim Hotel, Texarkana
  • Gunter Hotel, San Antonio
  • Hamilton Guest Hotel
  • Hearne Hotel, Cameron
  • Hotel Herring, Amarillo
  • Kemp Hotel, Wichita Falls
  • Kerr Hotel, Sanderson
  • Keystone Hotel, Lampasas, 1870
  • Ladonia closed hotel
  • Laguna Hotel, Cisco
  • Lakeview
  • Hamilton Hotel, Olney
  • Hotel Las Lomas, Junction
  • Hotel Lubbock, Lubbock
  • Hotel Lynn, Tahoka, 1908 postcard
  • Marathon tourist court
  • Hotel Margueretta, Barstow
  • Hotel Marshall, Marshall
  • Memphis Hotel
  • Hotel Mercedes
  • Mobley Hotel, Cisco
  • Muleshoe Hotel, Muleshoe
  • Navarro Hotel, Corsicana
  • New State House, Waco
  • Nueces Hotel, Corpus Christi | Interior | Stationery
  • O'Dell Hotel, McLean
  • Odessa Motels
  • Old Coupland Inn
  • El Paisano Hotel, Marfa
  • Palmer Hotel, Big Spring
  • Park Hotel, Aquarena Springs
  • Pecos Hotel and abandoned motel, Sheffield
  • Perryton Hotel, Perryton
  • Pharr Hotel, Pharr
  • Plainview - Hilton?
  • Port Arthur - Goodhue Hotel, Dick Dowling Hotel, Vaugham Hotel, Hotel Sabine
  • Provident City Hotel, Provident City
  • Roaring Springs
  • Rogers Hotel, Waxahachie
  • Rosemont Hotel, Beaumont
  • Roswell Hotel, Del Rio
  • Royal Palm, Weslaco's First Hotel
  • Hotel Sabine, Port Arthur
  • San Juan Hotel, San Juan
  • Scharbauer Hotel, Midland
  • Security Hotel, Security
  • Seymour - Hotel at Lake Kemp
  • Shamrock Court, Shamrock
  • Shary Hotel, St. Paul
  • Sierra Blanca - Railside hotel
  • Southland Hotel - Southland
  • Spur
  • St. Antony, San Antonio
  • St. Charles Hotel and Tourist Court, Kerrville
  • Stagecoach Stop and Sargent Hotel, Brackettville
  • Suburban Gardens Hotel, ca 1904, Pearland
  • Texan Hotel - Panhandle
  • Texas Hotel, Mingus
  • Texas Longhorn Cafe, Glenrio
  • Thomas J. Rusk Hotel, Rusk
  • Tivy Hotel, Kerrville
  • Turner Hotel, Gainesville
  • Hotel Tulia, Tulia
  • Van Horn
  • Viggo Hotel, Hebbronville
  • West Hotel - George West
  • Windsor Hotel - Abilene
  • Old Stagecoach Inn, 1910 - Winedale
  • Wooten Hotel, Abilene
  • Youngblood Hotel, Toyah


  • Rooms With a Past - USA

  • Lake Wales, Florida's Dixie Walesbilt / Grand Hotel
    The “Green Monster” of Lake Wales

  • Texas Hotels Forum

  • Baker Hotel, Mineral Wells
    I saw the articles on the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells on your site about a month ago when a friend mentioned that he would like to go see the town. I have always been interested in grand old buildings and so I brought along my camera to take some pics.

    I was able to get a pic of what the lobby looks like today by adjusting my camera settings and holding it right up to the glass on the front doors. It is easy to imagine what it looked like in its heyday (which makes its current state all the more poignant). I also took a picture of what used to be the hotel's garage across the street. As you can see, the "B" is clearly visible over the doors.

    I hope that the town decides to do something with it as it is a beautiful building. Unfortunately, from the current state of the rest of the town, that may not be an option. Thanks, - Paul Cox, Dallas, TX, February 26, 2005

  • Subject: Hilton Hotel & old memories
    I have been told the first hotel Mr. Hilton built with his name on it was in Plainview, Texas. The last time I was downtown in Plainview, I believe it was still so. A boyhood friend, Dr. Richard E. Morgan's father had been the manager at that time when we were still in high school, the mid fifties. Richard is still there you might check with him. I lived there from 1948 to 1968 and remember those times with fond memories, it was one of the best places to grow up in !!! Recently went to my classes 50th reunion, one of my most pleasurable memories, good to see people you had not seen in so many years. - Jimmy Nowell, class of 1953, Granbury, Texas, September 18, 2004

  • "For Your Texas hotels built before 1950 series, may I humbly recommend the 16-story Texas State Hotel (1929) in Houston? It is a dying swan that needs to be revived. More architecture....art deco...it's rare, but it's there! Great site! - Kathy Z., Sugar Land, December 2001

  • I have been "stuck" in your website for almost 8 full hours now. I am fascinated with all of it. I am particularly fond of the "Rooms with a Past." I would like to offer some suggesions for future articles. I have always been fascinated with these old, charming structures, and wondered why each of them eventually closed. Baker Hotel, Mineral Wells Falls Hotel (Hilton), Big Spring Settles Hotel, Marlin Hilton Hotel, and Plainview, Cactus Hotel (Hilton), San Angelo. Keep up the GREAT work - Arnold Z.

  • I was reading about the Schulenburg's Heartbreak Hotel... This is someplace I'd like to visit. I'm an aspiring independent filmmaker (director/writer), and I get so inspired reading various stories on this site....especially the ghost towns, and smaller towns. I'm sure there some character research that could be done in a place like this. Thanks, Joyce Chasteen, July 26, 2001

  • I love what you have done with your Rooms with a Past series. Photos are exquisite. - Sandy

  • The Kyle Hotel in Temple, Texas, might be good for one of your featured pre-1950's hotels. It is no longer being used as was for sale for many years...hopefully it will not be torn down, as it is great architecture. - K, March 03, 2001

  • The Kyle Hotel in Temple

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