Site of Park Hotel

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker at the site of the Park Hotel in Lampasas tells it — and friend, it is a story worth telling. The year 1882 rolled into Lampasas like a locomotive picking up steam, because that is precisely what it was. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe line out of Galveston came pushing west, and Lampasas found itself sitting right at the end of the track — the western terminus.

Settlers followed the rails in, traders set up shop, and the city became a genuine hub. But the railroad was only half the attraction. Lampasas had something else working in its favor: the springs.

Spring water with a reputation for curative powers has a way of drawing people who are tired, ailing, or just looking for an excuse to sit on a porch somewhere pleasant. Lampasas had all of that in abundance. Now, a group of businessmen from the Houston and Galveston area looked at all that foot traffic — the settlers, the health-seekers, the rail passengers — and they did what businessmen do.

They built something big. They built the Grant Park Hotel, known as the Park Hotel, and it opened in 1883. And when I say big, I mean it.

This was a two-story frame structure that stretched more than three hundred feet. Three hundred feet of hotel, overlooking lawns that sloped right down to Sulphur Creek. Two hundred guest rooms.

Cabins for families. A dedicated stretch called Bachelor's Row for the single men. There were dining rooms, parlors, ballrooms, and an outdoor bandstand.

There were bathing facilities where guests could take in those famous mineral springs. And if you needed to get yourself from the hotel down to the railroad depot, you did not walk — a mule-drawn trolley carried you back and forth. Now picture it: shooting contests, horseracing, boating.

A ballroom. A bandstand. Mules pulling a trolley between a grand resort and a busy rail line.

For a spell, Lampasas was the place to be in Texas. The hotel also played host to something that outlasted it considerably. In 1885, within those walls, a Lampasas banker by the name of Frank Malone founded the Texas Bankers Association, and the Park Hotel served as the site of that organization's first convention.

That association is still going. The hotel is not. By the 1890s, the winds had shifted.

The rail line extended farther west, and Lampasas was no longer the end of the line — just a stop along it. Medical advances had begun to outpace the appeal of curative waters. The city faced a recession, and the glory days of the Park Hotel, grand as they were, turned out to be short-lived.

In 1891, the hotel became part of the Keely Institute. It changed hands twice more after that. Then, in February of 1895, it burned to the ground.

What remains today are the stone portions of the bathhouses — standing quiet at the site, the only physical evidence of what was once a three-hundred-foot resort with mule-drawn trolleys and ballrooms and Bachelor's Row. Reminders, the marker calls them, of a glamorous period in Lampasas history. And I'd say that's exactly right.

Some eras arrive like a train pulling in, full of noise and possibility, and then they pull out just as fast. All that's left is the stone.

What the marker says

The year 1882 ushered in an era of prosperity for Lampasas, as the city became the western terminus for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe line out of Galveston. The city became a trading point for settlers who came for access to the rail line. Known for the curative powers of its local spring water, Lampasas also became a destination for those seeking health and relaxation. A group of businessmen from the Houston and Galveston area built the Grant Park Hotel (Park Hotel), to capitalize on the city’s popularity. The Park Hotel opened in 1883. The two-story frame structure stretched more than 300 feet and overlooked lawns that sloped to Sulphur Creek. The resort offered 200 guest rooms and cabins for families as well as single men, who were housed on Bachelor’s Row. Guests found entertainment in the dining room, parlors, ballrooms and an outdoor bandstand, and used bathing facilities to enjoy the mineral springs. Occupants participated in shooting contests, horseracing, boating and other pursuits; a mule-drawn trolley carried them back and forth between the hotel and the railroad depot. The Park Hotel also became the site for organization meetings, including the first convention of the Texas Bankers Association, founded in 1885 by Frank Malone, a Lampasas banker. The Hotel’s glory days were short lived. By the 1890s, when the rail line had been extended farther west and medical advances surpassed the need for curative waters, the city faced a recession. In 1891, the hotel became part of the Keely Institute. It changed hands twice more before burning to the ground in February 1895. Today, only the stone portions of the bathhouses remain at the site, reminders of a glamorous period in Lampasas history.