City Hotel - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This former City Hotel is still standing but has lost its glory in a rude way. Not sure if the rooms are being let out as rentals or if they have been modified to make larger space as efficiency apartments. The exterior is in need of some structural and cosmetic improvements.

The historical marker is found at the back corner of the building with the sign facing toward Castro Avenue. It is behind a chain link fence but is still easily visible from the street side of the fence.

This hotel was built in 1912 because the economy of the town at the time was booming. The railroad was bringing in supplies and people needed a place to stop over on their travels. It was active during prohibition and the depression and apparently was still active as a restaurant and hotel up to the 1990s. Since then, however, it seems to have declined.

Link to Texas Escapes webpage on La Coste, TX that shows the City Hotel in better times:
(visit link)

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Marker Number: 875 Marker Text: Built in 1912 by Alsatian immigrant and prominent local developer Emil Schmidt, the City Hotel offered public lodging previously unavailable to visitors to La Coste. Its proximity to the railroad depot made it an ideal location to offer food and lodging to the growing number of visitors and business people involved in sales, expansion of the railroad, and the building of a dam in northeastern Medina County. The elegantly furnished rooms, verandas, and restaurant and ready clientele combined to make the hotel and restaurant an immediate success. Gus and Maggie (Ma) Keller bought the property in 1928 during the National prohibition against the sale of alcoholic beverages. They nevertheless ran a saloon in the hotel known as "Kellers Place" which according to local tradition allowed patrons to gamble and drink in a back room, an activity which because of timely telephone calls avoided police detection. Maggie, who managed the saloon for almost four decades, became the subject of local legend. One of the saloon's most prominent features was the large number of bottle caps which covered its walls and ceiling. The hotel is a local landmark recognized by generations of people traveling through or visiting La Coste. 1994

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Date Logged Log   09/26/2021 WayBetterFinder visited it