DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back when the railroad was stitching South Texas together, a group of businessmen sat down and started dreaming. Corpus Christi had something — that waterfront, that Gulf breeze — and they figured vacationers would come if only they had somewhere grand to stay.
So they put their plans into motion, and in 1912 and 1913, the Nueces Hotel rose up right there on the waterfront. Now when I say grand, I mean it. Two hundred and five guest rooms.
A banquet hall. Two private dining rooms. A sun parlor looking out over the water.
This was not a place you stumbled into with dusty boots and a bedroll. This was an occasion. But here's where the story gets a little harder to tell with a smile.
The early years were rough ones. Hard times had settled over Corpus Christi, and then came 1919, and with it, a hurricane that didn't ask permission before it did its damage. The Nueces Hotel felt every bit of that storm.
Lesser establishments might have folded right there. But the hotel held on — and then came the 1920s, and fortune finally turned its face toward Corpus Christi. The railroad service improved.
And in 1926, the port of Corpus Christi opened for business. The hotel fared well in those prosperous years, and by 1928, a South Texas rancher by the name of William Whitby Jones — born in 1858 — and his three daughters had gained control of most of the hotel stock. The Jones family held onto that hotel through decades of civic dinners, social gatherings, and Gulf Coast vacations.
Ownership stayed in the family all the way until 1961, after which the old building took on a quieter role as a retirement center. More than fifty years of history inside those walls. And then came 1970, and Hurricane Celia.
Celia did not hold back. The damage to the old hotel was so extensive that the structure was condemned, and a year later, it was demolished. Just like that, the Nueces Hotel was gone — two private dining rooms, that sun parlor, all two hundred and five rooms of it.
The marker says its history serves as a reminder of Corpus Christi's development as a resort area, and I think that's exactly right. Some buildings carry a whole town's ambition inside them. The Nueces Hotel was one of those.
What the marker says
As railroad lines made travel easier for the people of the state, a group of South Texas businessmen developed plans to attract vacationers to Corpus Christi. The construction of the Nueces Hotel in 1912-1913 was part of this development. Prominently sited on the waterfront, the hotel featured a banquet hall, two private dining rooms, a sun parlor, and 205 guest rooms. Hard times in Corpus Christi and damage sustained during the 1919 hurricane made the first years of the Nueces Hotel difficult ones. The hotel fared well, however, during the prosperous 1920s, due partly to improved railroad service and the opening of the port of Corpus Christi in 1926. By 1928 South Texas rancher William Whitby Jones (1858-1942) and his three daughters had gained control of most of the hotel stock. Ownership of the Nueces Hotel remained in the Jones family until 1961, and the structure then served for a time as a retirement center. In 1970 hurricane Celia caused such extensive damage to the old hotel that it was condemned and demolished a year later. For more than 50 years the Nueces Hotel was a center of civic and social activities, as well as a vacation facility. Its history serves as a reminder of Corpus Christi's development as a resort area. (1983)