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THE BAKER HOTEL |
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CLICK HERE FOR A
MAP AND DIRECTIONS |
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click a thumbnail to view a photo Many famous people were guests of the Baker Hotel. Such as Judy Garland, Clark Gable, the Three Stooges, Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird, Will Rogers, Marlene Dietrich, Mary Martin, General Pershing, Dorothy Lamour, Jean Harlow, Sammy Kaye, Jack Dempsey, Helen Keller and Ronald Reagan. To name a few. The famous Big Bands of the era 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 played the Baker Hotel. |
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In 1926 Baker Hotel construction began, with completion in late 1929. It cost $1,250,000.00. Built in the style of the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas, not quite Art Deco, but still a product of the Roaring 20s. The Baker Hotel has 14 stories, which puts it on the international list of skyscrapers. This in a very small town. The Baker Hotel has 460 rooms, two complete spas, and what was claimed to be the first Olympic-size swimming pool in the United States. |
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In 1952, the hotel's namesake, Mr. T. B. Baker, retired, leaving his hotel empire to his nephew, Earl Baker, who closed the Baker Hotel in 1963. In 1965 a group of Mineral Wellians re-opened the Baker, but not for long. It closed for good in the 1970s and quickly began to deteriorate. | |||
Below is a very good Baker Hotel YouTube video showing it in its heyday. | |||
Rumors of hauntings abound. Ghost hunters take tours and spend the night. On the day these photos were taken, 11/16 2002, a group was preparing to take an after dark tour and spend the night. A Canadian TV crew had been there earlier in the day filming a show about ghost sightings. The photo to the left looks down the walkway outside the Baker. | |||
Downtown Mineral Wells looks like a ghost town on this particular Saturday night. |
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A view of the Baker from the bluff overlooking Mineral Wells. This photo is a good view of how massive the structure is and how it dominates the little town. |
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A close up look at the ballroom and outdoor walking area on the roof of the hotel. |
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From the backside of the Baker, a massive chimney venting the Titanic era boilers in the basement. |
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The YouTube video below gives you a good look at the current condition of the Baker Hotel | |||
In this photo it appears a bird is the only current resident in the hotel, sitting on the balcony which sticks out from the ballroom, 14 stories high. | |||
A postcard from the era when the Baker Hotel was one of the nation's prime tourist destinations, people coming from all over for the curative powers of the Crazy Water. In the 1950s the FDA cracked down on cure-all tonics and unsubstantiated claims of medicinal value. Ironically, decades later, it was discovered that Crazy Water contains small amounts of the salt compound known as lithium. Lithium carbonate came to be regularly used to control manic depression in the U.S. in the 1960's. | |||
In the 1990s Mineral Wells was discovered for a new reason. That being Lake Mineral Wells State Park with one of the most heavily used rock climbing areas in Texas, an ominous place called Penitentiary Hollow. And in 1998 the Lake Mineral Wells State Trailway opened with much Texas hoopla. At over 20 miles, the former rail line is one of the longest hiking and biking trails in Texas. |
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