Rice Hotel and Saddlery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how Duane's gonna lay it out for you. There's a building sitting in Uvalde that has lived more lives than most people ever get to. And the story of how it got there, and what it became, is worth slowing down for.

We're talking about the Rice Hotel and Saddlery, and friend, that name alone should tell you this place had range. Constructed in 1909 and 1910, this building came into the world with a practical soul. The first floor, right out of the gate, was given over to ice storage and a meat market.

Cold cuts and cold storage, the twin pillars of civilization in any Texas town. But upstairs, well, upstairs was a different animal entirely. That second floor operated as a dance hall, a private club, and a Grand Jury room.

Now think about that combination for a moment. One floor, three very different kinds of business. People were up there dancing, then deciding, then possibly conspiring, all in the same general neighborhood of square footage.

Then 1913 rolls around, and a man named Prentice Carrington Rice enters the picture. Born in 1848, still working hard in 1913, a Uvalde saddle maker since 1883. That is a man who knew leather, knew the town, and knew what he wanted.

He purchased the building, moved his saddlery and harness business down to that first floor, and just like that, the ice and the meat market gave way to the smell of good honest tack. The second floor, meanwhile, shed its dancing shoes and got partitioned into rental units. That's how The Rice Hotel was born, right there above the saddles and harness.

Later owners kept the hotel running, carrying the business forward all the way until the 1940s. Prentice Carrington Rice himself lived until 1934, long enough to see the place he'd shaped become something the whole town knew by name. That building started as a place to keep things cold and keep things fed.

It became a place where people gathered, judged, danced, slept, and set out again down the road. Some buildings just have that in them.

What the marker says

This building, constructed in 1909-10, has long been a part of Uvalde's commercial development. The first floor originally was used for ice storage and a meat market. While the upper story served as a dance hall, private club, and Grand Jury room. In 1913, Prentice Carrington Rice (1848-1934), a Uvalde saddle maker since 1883, purchased the building and moved his saddlery and harness business to the first floor. The second floor later was partitioned into rental units and operated as The Rice Hotel. Later owners continued the hotel business until the 1940s. 1984