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"Rooms with a Past" series:

SETTLES HOTEL
Big Spring, Texas

Settles Hotel Update - "The hotel is no longer a "ghost" hotel. It has been fully restored and has resumed operations in Big Spring to an enthusiastic community." - G. Brint Ryan, February 02, 2013

Completed just as the Great Depression was beginning, the Settles is said to have cost $500,000. The Settles Hotel was built by Mr. and Mrs. Settles – the most unlikely “Mom and Pop” in the annals of Texas business. Poor, until oil was discovered on their land, the Settles gave Big Spring the biggest hotel between Ft. Worth and El Paso. The 1930 date over the entrance is a rare one in Texas architecture.

Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, February 2007

In 2006 the Settles was brought for a mere $75,000. The project was to restore the building to its former glory and in doing so, riding the city of what some considered an eyesore.

The groundbreaking for the restoration was on August 21, 2008 with a planned completion date of March 2010.

In the 1990s the building looked much worse – with scores of broken windows and pigeons nesting in the vacant rooms. Someone came up with a clever program where local business and individuals could sponsor the replacement of windows which was quickly done.

Today, the hotel is being restored by Big Spring native G. Brint Ryan. According to the restorer’s website, the asbestos has been removed along with 700 tons of the building’s interior - some of which was removed by explosive demolition.

Artifacts long missing have been returned – including a vintage phone booth, one of the registration desks and even the centerpiece chandelier which has been held (in safe keeping) by the Big Spring Heritage Museum.

But what about the missing sign? Good news. The letters have been measured and will be used as templates for new signage. The name will once again appear on the Big Spring skyline (the hotel is the Big Spring skyline).

Further information is available from the restorer’s website: www.settleshotel.com