Hotel Cotton At 804 Fannin St.

[editor]

I took my first stroll through the downtown tunnels today and came across a slice of the Hotel Cotton's facade preserved underneath 811  Main, which used to be in that location.

There's a descriptive plaque nearby which reads, in part:

Quote

The 11-story Hotel Cotton was developed by Almon Cotton, a wealthy, investment-loan man from Colorado.  When the Cotton first opened its doors on Saturday, March 1, 1913, people called the building sensational — it was the first hotel in downtown Houston with a bath in all 152 rooms!  Although it was located in what some still considered the countryside (the city had to clear weeds on adjacent land), the Cotton charged very high rates at $1.50 per room and head steady business from the start.  The neighboring Stowers Furniture Company building, which still stands today, supplied the first furniture for the Cotton.  One Houston newspaper later branded the Cotton as the "Shamrock of 1913," which exemplifies its luxurious and impressive modernity at the time.

Soon after its opening, the Cotton passed through a series of owners, where its name was eventually changed to the Montagu Hotel.  After falling into extreme disrepair, the hotel was demolished on January 20, 2007.

It's funny, I was there at the demolition, and didn't put that event together with this location. 

[Specwriter]

It looks like some real craftsmanship and skilled labor went into the construction of that building. That must still exist to some degree in recent times since this part of the façade was reconstructed after 2007. 

[dbigtex56]

14 hours ago, editor said:

It's funny, I was there at the demolition, and didn't put that event together with this location. 

sevfive and I toured the Montagu and spoke with the young men who were trying to reopen it as a sort of hostel, featuring low priced rooms geared to musicians and such (similar to the Allen Parkway Inn).
IIRC, they were the nephews of the owner of Charlie's diner on Westheimer in Montrose. 
The Montequ/Cotton Hotel was at the corner of Fannin and Rusk, which would be the northeast corner of the building that took its place.

[editor]

On 11/10/2021 at 8:47 AM, Specwriter said:

It looks like some real craftsmanship and skilled labor went into the construction of that building. That must still exist to some degree in recent times since this part of the façade was reconstructed after 2007. 

For a few years I worked with a company that does this kind of work.  Not exterior brick and such, like this facade, but interiors.  A lot of it was for old movie and opera house renovations, and also for movie sets.  Occasionally, they'd get a big commission for a mansion.  It was a family owned company, and when I was working with them, it had been for something like 130 years.