The Baker Hotel

The Baker Hotel

The Baker was built by hotel magnate T. B. Baker who already owned the Baker in Dallas and the Saint Anthony in San Antonio. The Baker had 14 stories and 450 rooms, 11 floors for rooms with space for 50 “apartments” above the main roofline. These premium rooms had the benefit of the rooftop “solarium.”

The Baker was modeled after the Arlington Hotel which still operates in Hot Springs, Arkansas – also built by Wyatt Hendrick. The Baker opened it’s doors just two weeks after the stock market crash of 1929. It filed for bankruptcy in 1932, but new owners kept the building open. It served as military dependent quarters from 1941 to 1944 and remained open until 1963. It reopened briefly from 1965-1972 but the doors have been shut since then.

The public’s taste, increased mobility and changing values made the Baker a relic of an earlier age. It was a lively place while it was open, though, with celebraties like Will Rogers, Tom Mix, Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, Helen Keller and even the Three Stooges (Shemp, however, was reportedly asked to stay elsewhere). One brochure states that it was the 2nd hotel in the U.S. to have a pool – but that seems unlikely.

Entertainers that performed at the Baker included Lawrence Welk, Pat Boone, Mary Martin, Judy Garland and Paul Whiteman (and his orchestra).

info garnered from article on TexasEscapes.com

Reputably haunted, read more about the Ghosts of the Baker Hotel

Canon EOS Rebel T1i

HDR info
tripod, 3 RAW exposures +2 to -2, Photomatrix Pro 3.2

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