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The Ghosts of the Baker Hotel - by Bob Hopkins
Page 3
A
Brief History of
The Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells
The stories of ghosts and hauntings
began in the Baker long before it
ever closed..... |
| | Close
up of bridge and entrance
Photo courtesy Jason Grant |
Once
a very lavish hotel, the huge Baker
was the site of many wonderful times. Set in the backdrop of the bustling early
twentieth century, the Baker was a
reflection of all that America was. The hotel, born at the beginning of the great
depression, survived the financial hardships of the era to witness the greatest
war mankind has ever seen.
Becoming one of the state's most lavish resorts,
the Baker built a magnificent reputation
that attracted people from all walks of life for one reason or another. One may
find the history of the grand old hotel very interesting. That history could well
be a key to some of its permanent guests.
In 1914 the Crazy
Water Hotel was erected and became the center of activities. But a devastating
fire in March 1925, destroyed most of the building. It was then that a man by
the name of T. B. Baker, a wealthy hotel businessman, decided to build a grand
hotel in Mineral
Wells based
on the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Baker owned several
hotels throughout Texas at that time, including
the St. Anthony, the Gunther, and Menger
in San Antonio, the Stephen
F. Austin in Austin, the Texas Hotel
in Ft. Worth, the Baker in
Dallas, the Goodhue in Port
Arthur, the Galvez in Galveston,
the Edson in Beaumont,
and the Sterling in Houston.
Construction began in 1926 and was it was completed in 1929, at a cost of
$1,250,000.00. The facility magnificently reflected the spirit of the "roaring
twenties". It's fourteen storiestowered over the small town of 7,000 residents
like a brown brick giant. It had 460 rooms, two complete spas, and what is said
to be the first Olympic-size swimming pool in the United States. It rivaled any
hotel in New York or Chicago.
Mineral
Wells Hotels >
Book Your Hotel Here & Save |
| | The
Baker Hotel c. 1948
TE Postcard Archives |
Many celebrities visited or performed at the Baker,
according to old hotel registers. The Baker
hosted the Three Stooges, Clarke Gable, Judy Garland, Will Rogers, Marlene Dietrich,
General Pershing, L.B.J., Jean Harlow, Sammy Kaye, Jack Dempsey, Sam Rayburn,
Helen Keller, Ronald Reagan and Mary Martin, just to name a few.
According
to an article in "Palo Pinto County History Vol. 1", a waiter recalled a $2.00
tip given to him by outlaws Bonnie
Parker and Clyde Barrow, although he didn't recognize them at the time.
Many "Big Bands" blasted out their tunes from the "Sky Room" at the top of
the building or in the first floor "Brazos Room." Lawrence Welk remembered his
"starting out days" at the Baker when
he still had difficulty with English. Other entertainers of the time that visited
the Baker included Guy Lombardo, Paul
Whiteman, Dorothy Lamour, and later, Pat Boone.
World
War II ushered in a new era for the hotel with the growth of nearby Fort Wolters.
The base eventually became the largest infantry replacement base in the country,
with 30,000 soldiers passing through it's gates in 1942 alone. The Baker
was then at its peak, catering to both civilians and military personnel.
Life in America, however, began to change by the 1950's. The FDA crackdown
on inflated advertising on cure-all tonics and mineral waters changed the way
we viewed medicine. New antibiotic drugs and preventive medicine soon became the
healthcare mainstream as the need for mineral waters began to fade. The interstate
highway system in the late 1960's re-routed the main flow of traffic out of Mineral
Wells and
I - 20, 14 miles south, cut off a major financial artery to the town.
In 1952, Mr. T. B. Baker, retired. Since he had no children, he left his hotel
empire to his nephew, Earl Baker who was already a successful part of the business.
Earl Baker lived in San Antonio
and said he would continue to operate the Baker in Mineral
Wells until
his 70th birthday. True to his word, on April 30th, 1963, the Baker
closed its doors. But not for long. A group of civic leaders managed to re-open
the hotel in 1965, but with very little profit, the hotel closed for good in 1970.
In a strange twist of fate, Earl Baker was visiting the hotel for one last
time on December 3, 1967 when he suddenly died of a massive heart attack. It was
as if the hotel dealt him a vengeful blow for the years of declining glory and
subjugated neglect.
In 1973, the Army closed Fort Wolters - yet another
major blow to the Mineral
Wells economy.
By the late 1970's the city had lost one third of its population. The oil and
gas industry moved in and sparked some hope, but by 1985 it too went bust -leaving
the town once again desperate for an economic future.
Although the city
of Mineral
Wells has
recovered to a small degree, it's once beautiful hillsides are slowly being depleted
by brick plants and the factory-dependent town survives on an economic base, far
below yesteryear's glory days and the fame of its healing waters.
Back to The Ghosts of the Baker Hotel
- page 1
© Bob Hopkins, Weatherford, August 2002
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Wells Hotels > Book Your Hotel Here &
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