Luther Hotel - Palacios, TX - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

A Texas Historic Commission Plate and Shield beside the door reads:

Old Palacios Hotel. Built 1903, east bay front. Moved 1905 to present site. Enlarged. A resort for investors from north, buying orchards, land on coast. Had famed dining room, permanent orchestra. Has withstood many hurricanes, including 1961's "Carla". Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965



The following is from the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form:

NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION

The Luther Hotel is located on Tres Palacios Bay in Palacios, Texas. It is a 2 1/2 -story rectangular frame structure comprised of three distinct hip-roofed building volumes: a central volume and two long wings connected by hyphen-like 2-story sections. The central volume features a large porch with giant order classical columns, and each building volume contains dormer windows. The lobby is centrally located and contains a wood open staircase and reception desk. A mix of traditional and apartment-style hotel rooms fill the remainder of the hotel. The hotel's major [south) facade is parallel to the shoreline, and each of the south facade windows has a bay view. The hotel occupies an entire block on South Bay Boulevard between Fourth and Fifth streets and is accessed via a palm tree-lined semicircular entrance drive off of South Bay Boulevard. Mature deciduous trees are clustered around the hotel. The lot also contains an 11-unit motor court on its west end, added to the Luther Hotel in 1941. Although the Luther Hotel has seen several alterations, most of which were necessitated by the region's hurricanes, it is in fair to good condition and remains in operation as a hotel; the later motor court building is in fair condition and is vacant

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The Luther Hotel, fronting onto Tres Palacios Bay in the town of Palacios, Matagorda County, is one of the few surviving tourist and residential hotels built along the Gulf Coast as part of extensive land development schemes throughout Texas in the early 20th century. The Palacios Bay Townsite Company commissioned regional architect Jules C. Leffland to design its showcase resort hotel in 1903. Leffland designed the hotel as a long, clapboard Cape Cod-type resort hotel with a broad, full-facade veranda facing the town's East Bay. In 1905, only two years after its completion, the town's developers had the building cut into three sections and moved a half-mile to front the ocean on South Bay Boulevard. Since then, the three story frame hotel building has withstood numerous tropical storms and one fire. The hotel was renovated several times during the historic period, most notably between 1939 and 1941 when it received a two-story pedimented portico supported by monumental classical columns; during this same building campaign, an 11-unit motor court was added to the site to accommodate automobile tourists. Although the porch replacement altered the building's original design, it occurred in the historic period and has achieved significance of its own, adding a sense of majesty to the long, three-story white frame resort hotel. Still in operation, the Luther Hotel is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, for Community Planning and Development and for Entertainment and Recreation, and under Criterion C for Architecture, both at the local level of significance.

SUMMARY

The Luther Hotel is one of the few surviving Gulf Coast tourist and residential hotels built as part of extensive land development schemes throughout Texas in the early 20th century, and it represents an important era in the development of Palacios and Matagorda County. Designed by noted regional architect Jules C. Leffland in 1903, originally the building was a Cape Cod-type resort hotel with a broad, full-facade veranda facing the town's East Bay. In 1905, only two years after its completion, the town's developers had the building cut into three sections and relocated a half-mile to front the ocean on South Bay Boulevard. The period of significance begins in 1905, when the hotel building was disassembled and reconstructed at its current location, and ends in 1960, the current 50-year limit The hotel was renovated several times during the historic period, most notably between 1939 and 1941, when it received a 2-story pedimented portico supported by monumental classical columns. During this same building campaign, an 11-unit Art Moderne motor court hotel, or motel, was added to the site to accommodate automobile tourists. As of this writing, these modifications to the hotel, which has faced the South Bay for 95 years, are approximately 70 years old. A survivor of fire, numerous tropical storms, and neglect over the years, this monumental seaside hotel truly is a landmark in the small town of Palacios, and it is s till in operation today. The Luther Hotel is therefore nominated to the National Register under Criterion A, in the areas of Community Planning and Development and Entertainment and Recreation; and under Criterion C, in the area of Architecture, all at the local level of significance.

Street address: 408 South Bay Blvd. Palacios, TX USA 77465 County / Borough / Parish: Matagorda Year listed: 2010 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949, 1950-1974 Historic function: Domestic/Hotel Current function: Hotel Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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