DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Charles Henry Nimitz, Sr. purchased this property in 1855 — out here on the Texas frontier, where a good roof and a warm meal were about as valuable as gold. By 1860, the Nimitz Hotel was established, throwing open its doors to frontier travelers passing through and serving as home to the large Nimitz family all at once.
Now that's a household with some hustle to it. Come the 1870s, somebody decided a plain hotel just wasn't enough. The place was expanded to feature a steamboat shaped facade — right there in the Hill Country, miles from any navigable water worth mentioning.
You'd crest a rise on the road and see the silhouette of a steamboat sticking up against the Texas sky. It became a center for community activities, a gathering place, the kind of spot a whole region orbits around. The family held onto it all the way until 1926, when it was sold and underwent major alterations.
The steamboat shape, for a time, was gone. But here's where the story turns. In 1964 the building became a museum — one honoring Fleet Admiral Chester W.
Nimitz and all those who served with him in World War II. And at some point after that, the steamboat facade was rebuilt. It stands there still, a local landmark, rising up against the Hill Country sky just like it always did.
Some things, it turns out, are too good a story to leave altered.
What the marker says
This property was purchased by Charles Henry Nimitz, Sr., in 1855. By 1860 the Nimitz Hotel was established, hosting frontier travelers and providing a home for the large Nimitz family. Expanded in the 1870s to feature a steamboat shaped facade, the hotel was a center for community activities. It was sold by the family in 1926 and underwent major alterations. In 1964 it became a museum honoring Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and those who served with him in World War II. The steamboat facade was later rebuilt and remains a local landmark. (1989)