The Ott Hotel, built in 1928 and in the family until 2002, has not one but TWO state historic marker on front of it, and one even mentions the OST!
The historic markers read as follows, from left to right:
"JAMES B. WOODS
James B. Woods, the third representative of the Municipality of Liberty to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence, was born on January 21, 1802 in Kentucky. He arrived in Texas in 1830 and settled in the Atascosito Libertad area of Mexico (now Liberty, Texas). Woods was among the earliest lawyers to practice in the Liberty District and was known as a brilliant lawyer and speaker. On January 25, 1831, Woods was granted a half a league at this site.
Due to his education, background and profession, Woods easily became involved in politics and, in 1834, was elected Alcalde (Mayor) of the Liberty District. He represented the District at the Consultations of 1835 and, in March 1836, was one of five delegates representing Liberty at the Washington-on-the-Brazos Convention. On March 11, 1836, 34-year-old James B. Woods was one of the men who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. In addition to his civic duties, Woods also served in the Texas Army, Franklin Hardin Company from July 7 to October 7, 1836. He then returned to Liberty and his family to resume his law practice.
In 1838, Woods ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress against his brother-in-law, Hugh B. Johnston. That same year, he married Mary Ann White (b.1822), daughter of former Mayor Matthew G. White. James and Mary Ann had three children. In 1851, James Woods killed Alexander Buxton over an election quarrel, and was said to have been remorseful. Tradition states that he was killed or took his own life. He was buried in the White Family Cemetery, three miles southeast of Liberty, with members of his family and neighbors. (2013)
Marker is Property of the State of Texas"
and
"OTT HOTEL
Built to capitalize on oil boom prosperity, the Ott Hotel became a Liberty landmark. The regional economy in the early 20th century focused on trade, timber and agriculture. The discovery of large oil fields, including Batson (15 mi. NE) and South Liberty (4 mi. S), brought great activity to Liberty as the nearest rail connection, and many new buildings went up, including restaurants, general stores and this railroad hotel.
Louisiana native John Joshua Ott (1867-1939) and his wife Sallie Wiggins Ott (1874-1963) of San Jacinto County hired contractor Elza Burch to build the hotel. Completed in late 1928 adjacent to the Texas & New Orleans Railroad tracks and very near the depot, the Ott Hotel was well positioned to serve train passengers and was known as a drummer hotel, named for the traveling salesmen of the day. Its location was also ideally suited for automobile tourists on the Old Spanish Trail (later State Highway 3 and U.S. Highway 90), as well as those with business in the nearby county courthouse.
The hotel's original design included 50 rooms in an L-shaped building footprint, with community baths in the middle of the long hall. Dining room and parlor space was later converted into additional rooms. A sign painted on the bricks on the side along the railroad attracted new arrivals. This two-story brick building features paired windows and has a prominent four-bay front porch with tapered wood columns, a low-pitch roof and brick detailing. Craftsman-style exposed rafter trails outline the porch and the entire building. Several managers operated the hotel, and the property remained in the Ott family until 2002.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2005"
The SH 3 (which shared many miles with the OST) was one of the earliest highways in Texas, being one of the original 26 state highways that were designated in 1917.
From Wikipedia: (
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"SH 3 was one of the original twenty six state highways proposed in 1917, overlaid on top of the Southern National Highway. From 1919, the routing mostly followed present day U.S. Highway 90 from Orange to Houston and San Antonio through to Del Rio."
The SH 3/OST passed through Liberty, a small town between Beaumont and Houston. The OST was co-designated with the SH 3 until 1926, when the Auto Trails and some major state highways were reclassified as federal highway. This part of the OST/SH 3 was designated US 90, and gradually both the OST and SH 3 names faded. By 1938 the designation of this road as SH 3 was completely dropped. See: (
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"[page 12] The Texas Highway Commission affirmed the importance of the Old Spanish Trail in 1921, when it identified most of SH 3 as part of the Federal Aid Highway System. (Refer to Figure 46 previous Section I.4.)
The Commission also reiterated the 1917 identity of SH 3 as beginning near Orange and ending in Del Rio. Elements of the highway in the System between those two points included stretches between Orange, Beaumont, Nome, Devers, Liberty, Crosby, Houston, Sugarland, Richmond, East Bernard, Eagle Lake, Columbus, Weimar, Flatonia, and Waelder. The route of SH 3 within the Federal Aid Highway System resumed in Gonzales and went to Seguin, Schertz, San Antonio, Castroville, Hondo, Sabinal, Uvalde, Brackettville, and Del Rio."
An overview of the OST and Texas from the Texas Historical Commission can be found here: (
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"Old Spanish Trail
Evoking the early Spanish conquistadors, explorers, and missionaries who came to Texas and other southern states centuries ago, the historic named highway known as the Old Spanish Trail (OST) includes segments of some of the oldest roads and trails in Texas. Spanning the nation from St. Augustine, Florida to San Diego, California, the OST took a more southerly route than the Bankhead Highway and was touted as the shortest transcontinental highway in the United States, especially when compare to the Lincoln Highway, which extends from coast to coast across the nation's mid-section. The OST enters Texas at Beaumont, passing through Houston and San Antonio before leaving Texas via El Paso, with various alignments.
Impetus for the creation of the highway stems from the efforts of a group of individuals, primarily from Florida and Alabama, who met in Mobile, Alabama, in 1915 to create the Old Spanish Trail Association. It was one of many such auto trails groups established around the county as part of the Good Roads movement that promoted improvements to and expansion of the nation's highways. The route quickly assumed a leading role in Texas' emerging highway system, in part, because it traveled to not only some of the state's most important nodes of military installations and industrial centers, but also some of the state's best known tourist destinations, parks, and recreational centers.
The historic highway has largely been subsumed into IH 10, which often follows historic alignments associated with the road. Segments of the historic roadway still exist on segments of varying lengths that parallel the interstate highway. Nonetheless, of all the named highways in Texas, the OST arguably has retained its historic identity to a highest degree because of its direct link to the state's rich history. The sense of pride that Texans have enjoyed and appreciated through the state's history contributed to the enduring quality of the name Old Spanish Trail, and the term is still used in Houston and other cities along its route."