Plans for a five-story hotel in Yoakum

By Murray Montgomery
Staff Writer

murray.montgomery@lavacacountytoday.com

It is a fascinating thing to look back into history and see the dreams of those folks who came before us – this story is about one of those dreams. I like to call it a “history mystery,” because I was never able to find out how the story ended. Did it come to fruition or was it only a pipe dream?

I came across this one while researching some old newspapers, looking for something to write about. The article appeared in the December 19, 1912, edition of the Yoakum Weekly Herald – the large headlines immediately caught my eye: “Five Story Fire Proof Hotel For Yoakum” – the subheads also grabbed my attention: “Preliminary Work Is Being Done” – “Haller Hotel Co. Will Own Building.”

Now you must admit this was big news for the small Yoakum community. After seeing the story, I did what I always do; tried to find some confirmation. I looked for issues of the paper published weeks, months, and a year after the original article. I also asked about it on the Yoakum Herald-Times Facebook page. I know the paper is nearly 112 years old, but I was hoping family memories might contain information – maybe some stories passed down over the years. The last time I looked over 500 people had viewed my Facebook question, but there has been no response.

People living in Yoakum will probably be familiar with the proposed location. The newspaper reported that the hotel would; “Front 50 feet on Front Street and 130 feet on May Street.” There can be no doubt that the hotel planners had a big dream. The paper continued, “The specifications call for every modern convenience, with long distance telephone in each room, and every room will be accessible to plunge and shower baths.”

The Haller Hotel Company was to own the hotel and they did not seem to be the least bit concerned about financing. The plan called for stock to be divided into 1,000 shares with a value of $100 each. At the time the story was written, about $65,000 worth of the stock had already been sold.

Optimism seemed to abound as the paper wrote, “It has been no trouble to get rid of stock in the Haller Hotel Company, as the demand has been such as to indicate that the financing on the proposition will be a very easy matter.”

During the preliminary work on the hotel, the company planned to have an office in the Yoakum State Bank. The office would be for E.J. McCormick Jr., formerly with the National City Bank and the National Bank of Commerce of New York City. He would be the acting secretary for the company.

I was amazed by the overall plan of this enterprise – they truly had some big ideas. For example, the hotel was to have its own water, light, and heating plant. According to the paper, “A contract for putting down an artesian well will be let in a few days.”

After looking on Google Maps (street view), it looks like the proposed location for the hotel was where W. May Street. intersects Front Street. There is a metal building that looks like a 2-car garage on one corner – on the other corner is a vacant lot. The hotel, if it was ever built, would have been on either side. I wonder if an artesian well ever existed on one of those corners?

This five-story hotel, including a basement, was set to begin construction after January 15, 1913. The local newspaper was pushing hard for Yoakum to get that hotel. “This is the most extensive proposition that Yoakum has had to deal with, and the hotel is something that our city needs now and will need more as the tide of prosperity and advancement continues to surge over us.”

I wonder, was the dream structure ever really built or will it forever be just a historical mystery?