Baker Hotel
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| Baker Hotel | |
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| Information | |
|---|---|
| Location | 511 E. Hubbard St. Mineral Wells, Texas 76068 USA |
| Status | Complete |
| Constructed | 1926—1929 |
| Technical Details | |
| Floor count | 14 |
The Baker Hotel, in Mineral Wells, Texas, was opened November 22nd, 1929 and was designed after the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas, which is still operating today. The Baker is 14 stories tall and has 460 rooms. The Baker has the first structured above ground swimming pool in Texas. Many celebrities stayed at The Baker including Lawrence Welk, Judy Garland, Clark Gable, The Three Stooges, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans. Even Bonnie and Clyde stayed here using an alias. The hotel closed in 1972 and is presently for sale.
[edit] History
In 1926 construction began on the Baker Hotel, which would offer therapeutic baths and massages to the many visitors. Built in the style of the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the Baker is not quite Art Deco, but still a product of the Roaring 20s. Construction was completed in late 1929, and the Baker opened for business.
T.B. Baker, a wealthy hotel businessman, spent $1,250,000.00 to build the famous hotel. Some of the famous names to appear on the Baker Hotel guest list include Judy Garland, Clark Gable, the Three Stooges, Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird, Roy Rogers, Will Rogers, Marlene Dietrich, Mary Martin, General Pershing, Dorothy Lamour, Jean Harlow, Sammy Kaye, Jack Dempsey, Helen Keller, and Ronald Reagan.
The Baker Hotel has 14 stories, which puts it on the international list of skyscrapers. The Baker Hotel has 460 rooms, two complete spas, and claimed to be the second U.S. hotel with a swimming pool and the first Olympic-size swimming pool in the United States.
The famous Big Bands of the era, such as the Dorsey Brothers, played the Sky Room at the top of the hotel or in the first floor Brazos Room. Lawrence Welk spoke of his times at the Baker early in his career. Guy Lombardo is another Big Band leader who also played the Baker Hotel.
In 1952, the hotel's namesake, Mr. T. B. Baker, retired leaving his hotel empire to his nephew, Earl Baker, who closed the hotel in 1963.
In 1963 a group of Mineral Wellians re-opened the Baker, but not for long. The last guest checked out in 1972 and the Baker quickly began to deteriorate.
The Baker was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Portions of the movie Shadows on the Wall were filmed there in 1985.
[edit] Facts and Figures
- The Baker Hotel was the second hotel in the United States of America to have a swimming pool
[edit] External links
- Baker Hotel Menu from 1929, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Baker Hotel photographs and ephemera, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
