Rich in History The Baker Hotel Mineral Wells, TX Ghost Stories & Texas Historical Site
The Baker Hotel was built by T.B. Baker who already owned the Baker in Dallas, TX and the Saint Anthony in San Antonio, TX. The Crazy Well Hotel aka The Crazy Hotel had proven that a business would survive in Mineral Wells. When the Crazy Hotel burned in 1925, a more lavish hotel was planned with twice the number of stories as well as twice the number of rooms.
The “new” Crazy Hotel was rebuilt on the foundation of the old and featured 200 rooms compared to the Baker Hotel with 14 stories and 450 rooms. The Baker had 11 floors for rooms with the space to accommodate 50 “apartments” above the main roofline. The premium apartments had an added benefit of the rooftop solarium.
The Baker Hotel was modeled after the Arlington Hotel which still operates in Hot Springs, Arkansas and was 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. The Baker also served as military dependent quarters from 1941-1944 and remained opened until 1963. It re opened briefly from 1965-1972 but the doors have been shut since then.
The publics 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 celebrities like Will Rogers, Tom Mix, Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, Helen Keller and even the Three Stooges (Shemp however requested to stay elsewhere and was accommodated at a different hotel.)
Various entertainers graced the stage of the Baker including Lawrence Welk, Pat Boone, Mary Martin, Judy Garland and Paul Whiteman with his orchestra.
This hotel is rich with culture and has been written about by various authors over the years. Professor Jay Henry , author of Texas Architecture 1895-1945 without sentiment refers to the Baker Hotel as a slab of guest rooms with public spaces at it’s base. The one thing that everyone can agree on is the hotels dominance over the skyline.
Mr. Baker had a 3 bedroom five bathroom apartment on the 7th floor- this residence is also highly publicized as being haunted by his the ghost of his mistress.
Stories of hauntings began long before the closure of the Baker. A porter who was employed from the 1950s through the 60s was the first documented witness of the ghost on the 7th floor. Distraught over an affair, she jumped to her death from the top of the hotel. The room number remains unverified however, it was a spacious suite on southeast corner of the 7th floor. Many have reported the smell of perfume and she is said to be somewhat flirtatious with men she might fancy.
Recently a woman who had worked as a maid in the hotel, reported that on several occasions she found glasses with red lipstick on the rims- ironically, when the room was not occupied.
Jane Catrett who is assisted by Ronny Walker now manages the building. Ronny manages tours of the building on weekends when time allows and is quite knowledgeable on the history of the hotel as well as the reported sightings of disembodied guests.
Tours of the Baker begin through an old record shop entrance on the corner, through an office littered with old flyers and campaign signs. The hotel is littered with graffiti, plaster is peeling off the roof after years of water damage, but stunning crown moulding and light fixtures remain.
After many years and numerous investors, businessman Laird Fairchild of Hunter Chase Capital has been locating investors from Dallas to Austin TX who are dedicated to restoring this Art Deco hotel to it’s former glory. This group of investors have also enjoyed success in restorations similar to the Baker and are confident that revitalizing this Texas landmark can be another success story for their group.
The key to the success of the Baker project is the acquisition of federal and state historic tax credits- the latter of which were just passed in the Texas Legislature. The guidelines are quite strict and, the group must appear as closely to it’s original state as possible in it’s former glory with the exception of a few modern amenities.
I for one would love to officiate a wedding at this grand old historic building- the quiet town is known for Crazy Water since 1881. The Crazy Well was flocked to by thousands of people from all over the country. In 1904, Mr. Dismuke founded the Famous Mineral Water Company selling and distributing the water. 100 years later, people are still drinking Crazy Water.
In 1914, folks around Mineral Wells, TX thought that building a hotel in this rural community 50 miles west of Fort Worth was a crazy idea.
Built over a water well known as the Crazy Well, the Crazy Hotel was branded as an early 20th century health resort. The sulfur waters of the well, which were used throughout the hotel for drinking and bathing as well as mixing “prohibition” cocktails- were said to have healing properties that addressed arthritis, dyspepsia, neuralgia, sore eyes, paralysis, insomnia, liver and kidney problems, rheumatism, scrofula and impurities of the blood.
In 1927 the Crazy Water Hotel burned to the ground, but Dallas businessmen Carr and Hal Collins bought the property and reconstructed the hotel touting “the fountain of youth” properties of miracle waters that bubbled up from the old well beneath the hotel.
The old Baker Hotel aka the Crazy Water Hotel will hopefully one day return to it’s former grandiose era but, until then, one the third weekend in June the city opens it’s doors for the Crazy Water Festival as well as occasional weekend tours of this enormous property. The annual Palo Pinto County on Tour spotlights historical sites and special attractions on the next to last Sunday in October.
Paranormal researchers claim the building is a warehouse of strange activity and a number of paranormal research projects have been conducted within it’s walls.
My twin sister Cindy Daniel and myself went to visit this landmark last year after bank tellers told of windows opening and closing with apparently no one there to open them.
Looking over a few of the photos where I was sitting on the steps- my sister pointed out that two photos taken within a five minute window were remarkably different. One photo appears to have a flash of light coming out of a window that a few minutes later is closed. This scared me and looking back now I’ve realized that certain photographs of paranormal activity do seen to have this affect on me.
Nonetheless and anyhow, I’d still love an opportunity to visit this beautiful hotel when the restoration is complete along with many other Texans who enjoy history and architecture as much as I do. Perhaps I will enjoy a bottle of Crazy Water while I’m there on my next visit.
