Side Entrance Historic Baker Hotel Mineral Wells Texas

Title

Side Entrance Historic Baker Hotel Mineral Wells Texas

Artist

Debra Martz

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Side Entrance Historic Baker Hotel Mineral Wells Texas by Debra Martz We stopped while traveling through Mineral Wells, Texas recently and walked around the crumbling but historic Baker Hotel which opened in 1929 just two weeks after the great stock market crash. It was 14 floors and was considered to be the first skyscraper outside of a major metropolitan area. The hotel was named after and developed by T.B. Taker and cost $1.2 million to build and included progressive amenities such as an Olympic size swimming pool, air conditioning, circulating ice water for guest rooms, even automatic lights that would turn off as guests left their rooms and more.

The Baker Hotel was successful through the mid-30s but had many financial difficulties through the next decades. The hotel was closed and reopened a number of times in the 1960s with the final closing in 1972. It sits vacant and deteriorating from nature and vandalism.

So, therefore, I was very surprised to read a sign entitled "The Future of the Baker" as this hotel has fallen into what I would have thought beyond repairable. The sign further states, "The developer's vision for the new renovated Baker Hotel is to honor the rich past of the hotel while celebrating a new beginning. Blending the old with the new, the new Baker Hotel will bring forth a treasure reborn with expanded guest rooms, gracious public spaces, fully equipped meeting rooms and most importantly, the renewal of the famous mineral water spas." I guess time will tell if it actually can be done and comes to fruition.

©Debra Martz
In My Galleries/Collections
"Texas" and
"Architecture Buildings Window Doors"

20190610-DSC_1431

Uploaded

June 14th, 2019

Statistics

Viewed 2,780 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/22/2024 at 7:27 PM

Colors

Embed

Sales Sheet