City Hotel

Duane's take

Here's my take on what the official marker has to say about the City Hotel in La Coste, Medina County. Now, every good story needs a builder, and this one's got a fine one. In 1912, an Alsatian immigrant by the name of Emil Schmidt — prominent local developer, man of ambition — put up what would become the City Hotel in La Coste.

And he didn't pick just any spot. He set it right there near the railroad depot, which, if you think about it, is about as shrewd a piece of real estate thinking as you're going to find in Medina County. Because who's coming off that train?

Salesmen. Railroad men. Engineers and investors tied up in expanding the line and building a dam over in northeastern Medina County.

All of them hungry, tired, and needing a place to lay their heads in a town that hadn't offered public lodging before Schmidt came along. The rooms were elegantly furnished. There were verandas.

There was a restaurant. And the clientele? Ready and waiting.

The hotel and restaurant were, by all accounts, an immediate success. Emil Schmidt built something that La Coste needed before La Coste even knew it needed it. But here's where the story gets interesting — and it gets interesting fast. 1928.

The country is deep in the National Prohibition against the sale of alcoholic beverages. The law of the land. And into this very hotel walk Gus and Maggie Keller, who buy the property.

Now, you might expect that to be the end of any saloon-related activity on the premises. You would be wrong. Gus and Maggie — and locals knew her simply as Ma Keller — ran a saloon in that hotel.

They called it Kellers Place. And according to local tradition, there was a back room. In that back room, patrons gambled and drank.

Now, how does an operation like that avoid police detection during Prohibition, you ask? Timely telephone calls. That's it.

That's the whole system. Somebody picked up the phone, word got around, and Kellers Place kept right on running. Ma Keller managed that saloon for almost four decades.

Four decades. Long enough that she didn't just run a business — she became the subject of local legend. And the saloon itself had a signature touch that nobody who walked through that door was likely to forget: the walls and ceiling were covered in a large number of bottle caps.

Floor to ceiling, corner to corner — bottle caps as far as the eye could see. The City Hotel has stood as a local landmark, recognized by generations of people traveling through or visiting La Coste. Emil Schmidt built it, Gus and Maggie Keller gave it a story worth telling, and Ma Keller made sure that story had staying power.

Some hotels, they just give you a room for the night. This one gave a whole county something to talk about.

What the marker says

Built in 1912 by Alsatian immigrant and prominent local developer Emil Schmidt, the City Hotel offered public lodging previously unavailable to visitors to La Coste. Its proximity to the railroad depot made it an ideal location to offer food and lodging to the growing number of visitors and business people involved in sales, expansion of the railroad, and the building of a dam in northeastern Medina County. The elegantly furnished rooms, verandas, and restaurant and ready clientele combined to make the hotel and restaurant an immediate success. Gus and Maggie (Ma) Keller bought the property in 1928 during the National prohibition against the sale of alcoholic beverages. They nevertheless ran a saloon in the hotel known as "Kellers Place" which according to local tradition allowed patrons to gamble and drink in a back room, an activity which because of timely telephone calls avoided police detection. Maggie, who managed the saloon for almost four decades, became the subject of local legend. One of the saloon's most prominent features was the large number of bottle caps which covered its walls and ceiling. The hotel is a local landmark recognized by generations of people traveling through or visiting La Coste. 1994