The Luther Hotel in Palacios, Texas, has a unique three-part history. The uniqueness lies not in a series of stories defining its past, but in the fact that the hotel itself was divided into three sections in order to be moved from the eastern edge to the southern shore of this seaside resort town of Matagorda County.
History
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The 3-Part History of the Luther Hotel
By |
Photo: Facebook/Luther Hotel
Constructed in 1903, the Luther Hotel was built using rare (by today’s standards), long-leaf yellow pine and cypress siding. It has endured a 1944 fire that damaged its top two floors and hurricanes, including Hurricane Carla in 1961, which was the worst one on record to have hit that part of the Texas Gulf coast. However, it has managed to continue in business with rooms that capture comfort and simplicity in a fashion that suits the era of our grandparents and great grandparents. It became a Texas historic landmark in 1965.
Photo: Facebook/Luther Hotel
Harkening back to simpler times, the Luther Hotel also survived the mule-powered move across a one-half mile of Palacios, cut into three separate sections, to be reassembled and expanded with the care and craftsmanship that has helped it weather the storms of a century. Originally called the Bay View Hotel, it was later renamed the Hotel Palacios and, following that, the Luther Hotel. The original hotel was what is now the center section of the existing accommodations. During its move, the original chimney and porches were removed, and the existing east and west wings were added to the original building afterward, together with a 300-foot long porch known as the “Longest Front Porch in Texas.” A palatial finish for this Palacios hotel property was only fitting because it is in Texas after all.
