Antlers Hotel (Kingsland, Texas)
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The Antlers Hotel is a hotel and resort built in 1901 by the
Austin and Northwestern Railroad The Austin and Northwestern Railroad began construction on a rail line west of Austin, Texas, United States, USA, toward Llano, Texas, Llano on April 20, 1881. The railroad was originally built as a Narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge line with p ...
on the
Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
in Kingsland in
Llano County Llano County () is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,243. Its county seat is Llano, and the county is named for the Llano River. History The Tonkawa tribe were t ...
in Central
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. After a brief heyday, The Antlers closed in 1923 and fell into disrepair. It was eventually resurrected by a couple from
Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
and reopened in 1996. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1997 as part of the Austin and Northwestern Railroad Historic District-Fairland to Llano historic district. The
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
structure is the centerpiece of what has become an historic railway district. Other railroad buildings have been added, among them a depot and three brightly painted
caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting; as well as in keeping a lookout for load ...
s setting on actual rails which have also been modified to serve as guest accommodations. The transformation continues whenever additional authentic old railroad structures are occasionally found, renovated and added to the resort. In 2002, The Antlers was designated a
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the st ...
, Marker No. 15150.


History of Kingsland and construction of the hotel

In 1892, the
Austin and Northwestern Railroad The Austin and Northwestern Railroad began construction on a rail line west of Austin, Texas, United States, USA, toward Llano, Texas, Llano on April 20, 1881. The railroad was originally built as a Narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge line with p ...
constructed a bridge across the Colorado River and a depot in Kingsland south of the point where the Colorado River meets the
Llano River The Llano River ( ) is a tributary of the Colorado River, about long, in Texas in the United States. It drains part of the Edwards Plateau in Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin. Two spring-fed tributaries, the North and South Llano, stret ...
. The Antlers Hotel was begun in 1900 and opened on May 1, 1901. Framed newspapers hanging around the hotel show events on that date including the cross-country trip by
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
, who toured Austin by
train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...
on May 3, 1901. He was
assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
, a few months later on September 5.


The Antlers Hotel

The Antlers Hotel was named in part for the Antlers Hotel in
Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...
, a new and fashionable railroad resort that opened a few years earlier. The Antlers is also named because Llano County was and remains a
deer hunting Deer hunting is hunting deer for meat and sport, and, formerly, for producing Buckskin (leather), buckskin hides, an activity which dates back tens of thousands of years. Venison, the name for deer meat, is a nutritious and natural food sourc ...
area. The hotel had all the modern conveniences of the day, including gas lights and a telephone in the lobby. The owners thought that electricity was a passing fad. All the camps had telephones so that guests could call in orders to the hotel kitchen. The hotel had eleven rooms with expansion capability for additional guests by placing hammocks on the wide porches. The hotel was in the center of a campground known as Campa Pajama that stretched down to Crescent Lake, formed by a 1,000 foot lock across the Colorado River. The lock was later destroyed in a flood. The since-renamed
Lake LBJ Lake Lyndon B. Johnson (more commonly referred to as Lake LBJ and originally named Lake Granite Shoals) is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country about 45 miles northwest of Austin. The reservoir was formed in 1950 by the ...
was created in 1951 with the construction of the
Wirtz Dam Wirtz Dam (formerly Granite Shoals Dam) was constructed from 1949 to 1951 to provide hydroelectric power and to form Lake Lyndon B. Johnson (formerly Lake Granite Shoals), one of the Texas Highland Lakes. Lake LBJ ‒ as it is more commonly refe ...
.


Historic district

The hotel and adjacent area is part of Austin and Northwestern Railroad Historic District-Fairland to Llano, which was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1997. The historic district is generally a linear strip along the railroad; the hotel is one of three exceptions where the district extends beyond a width of the
right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...
the tracks. The two-story hotel, built in 1901 to encourage tourism, is a
contributing building In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...
. To the west of the hotel is a
bunkhouse A bunkhouse is a barracks-like building that historically was used to house working cowboys on ranches, or loggers in a logging camp in North America. As most cowboys were young single men, the standard bunkhouse was a large open room with narr ...
or hotel annex that was used to house peak-season guests, hotel staff and train crews. Just north of the bunkhouse is a small three-room cabin (worker's building) that was typical of several cabins spaced around the property. A small tool storage shed behind the hotel is the fourth contributing building in the district. The architectural details of the hotel, bunkhouse, and cabin indicate that all were built around the same time. Further Antlers-associated items are a water tower foundation, a pump house, and a
cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...
which are
contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...
. The final listed element, in the field in front of the hotel, which is now the parking lot of the Grand Central Cafe and Club Car Bar, is the site of a large wooden pavilion used for dances and community gatherings, designated a
contributing site In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...
in the National Register listing. The Kingsland Depot, built was directly in front of the hotel between the main line and the sidetrack that still exist. The depot site is also a contributing site of the historic district. Across the road from the bunkhouse is the house of the Section Master who presided over a section of the railroad. This house was bought from the
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
in the 1940s. This structure is not within the district boundary and therefore is not listed as contributing or non-contributing.


Early 1900s history

1900 and 1901 were a time of consolidations in the railroad industry. The Austin and Northwestern Railroad had begun construction of the hotel and by the time it opened in 1901, the railroad and its hotel had been acquired by the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. The cast iron pot-belly stove in the dining room carries the H&TCR logo for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, which was itself acquired by the
Texas and New Orleans Railroad The Texas and New Orleans Railroad (TNO) was an American rail company in Texas and Louisiana. It operated of railroad in 1934; by 1961, remained when it merged with parent company Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific. Morgan's Louisian ...
and then the
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
. The hotel was a fashionable resort and on weekends the railroad ran an
excursion train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent custo ...
out from Austin for a $1.50 round trip fare. The hotel also served traveling salesmen or "drummers" and cattlemen. The hotel operated successfully until the 1920s when automobile travel eroded the reliance on train excursions. The novelty of the lake by the rails faded as a vacation destination and the hotel closed in 1923.


Restoration

A fire destroyed much of Kingsland in 1922, and the town fell into decline. The property was purchased in 1923 by the Barrow family of Austin, who used it as a private family retreat for seventy years until 1993, at which time the hotel itself had fallen into disrepair. The hotel was purchased in 1993 by an Austin couple who worked for more than two years in its restoration. It reopened on September 1, 1996, with Lori and Anthony Mayfield, the master carpenter on the restoration, as the managers. In addition to the restored hotel, there are several renovated cabins, a depot, and three colored cabooses (formerly of the
Norfolk and Western Railroad The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...
) which are also used as guest accommodations. There is also a
conference room A conference hall, conference room, or meeting room is a room provided for singular events such as business conferences and meetings. Room It is commonly found at large hotels and convention centers though many other establishments, including even ...
, and other turn-of-the-century buildings. The hotel has become a center of restoration and growth for the area. The Antlers is located on fifteen acres of land.


The former "Texas Chainsaw" House

The
Texas Chainsaw House The Texas Chainsaw House is located in Kingsland, Texas, on the grounds of The Antlers Hotel. This 1900s late Edwardian farm house was featured prominently in Tobe Hooper's horror film ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' as the home of Leatherface ...
(now the "Grand Central Cafe and Club Car Bar" restaurant) is a
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
house now located on the grounds of the Antlers Hotel and was used in the filming of ''
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American independent horror film produced, co-composed, and directed by Tobe Hooper, who co-wrote it with Kim Henkel. The film stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, ...
'' during 1973, when it was still in its original location. The house then sat vacant and fell into disrepair. In 1993 it was moved from the La Frontera development in Williamson County by the owners of the hotel. Once on site it was extensively renovated and converted into a restaurant.


References


External links


Antlers Hotel and Historic Rail DistrictJunction HousePhotos of the Antlers Inn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antlers Hotel Hotels in Texas Buildings and structures in Llano County, Texas Railway hotels in the United States Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks National Register of Historic Places in Llano County, Texas Hotel buildings completed in 1901 1901 establishments in Texas