Capitol Hotel At 614 Main St.

[RedScare]

The Rice Hotel was not built yet in 1910.

[sevfiv]

The Rice Hotel was not built yet in 1910.

welllll, sort of...

in 1881, the Capitol Hotel was built (on the site of the capitol of the republic of texas), then sold to William Marsh Rice in 1883, who changed the name and added on to it.

in 1911, the estate of Rice (the University) sold the hotel to Jesse Jones who tore it down to build the two-wing version of what is there today.

[torvald]

welllll, sort of...

in 1881, the Capitol Hotel was built (on the site of the capitol of the republic of texas), then sold to William Marsh Rice in 1883, who changed the name and added on to it.

in 1911, the estate of Rice (the University) sold the hotel to Jesse Jones who tore it down to build the two-wing version of what is there today.

exactly... that is the old rice hotel.

believe me, i know someone who goes on

and on about that hotel...

Edited August 15, 2006 by torvald

[NenaE]

welllll, sort of...

in 1881, the Capitol Hotel was built (on the site of the capitol of the republic of texas), then sold to William Marsh Rice in 1883, who changed the name and added on to it.

in 1911, the estate of Rice (the University) sold the hotel to Jesse Jones who tore it down to build the two-wing version of what is there today.

One of my many Houston books, Native Houstonian says that the first hotel bldg. was a 5-story Renaissance Revival bldg completed in 1882 (owner - Colonel Abram Groesbeeck) who spent too much money in building his elaborate hotel, and the hotel was "sold for taxes" several years later to ex-Houstonian William Marsh Rice. Says after W.M. Rice's death in 1900, the "property was deeded to Rice Institute & renamed the Rice Hotel". Also mentions a long term lease Jesse Jones obtained w/ permission to build a new hotel, which opened in 1913. This book has some great photos, including the Rice Hotel, old & new.

link: http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/sto...30/story14.html

I've found that every book source I read about the Rice Hotel varies a little bit.

Edited March 16, 2009 by NenaE

[Highrise Tower]

Found a very clear image of this historic hotel so I thought I would share. The original Rice Hotel!

Backgrond:

https://www.heritagesociety.org/rice-hotel

When John Kirby and Augustus Allen founded Houston in 1836, one of their earliest and most ambitious plans was for their new town to serve as the capitol of the new Republic of Texas. They succeeded, and they set about constructing a capitol building for the Texas legislature at Main and Texas. The two-story wood frame building, quite small and modest compared to the current building on the site, served its original purpose from 1837 to 1839, when the capitol moved to Austin. Besides a three-year return to use as a capitol building in 1842, the building was used as the remainder of its life as a hotel. Through several proprietors, the hotel sometimes harkened back to its former use with its name: the Capitol Hotel. The building was ultimately demolished in 1881, 44 years after it was built.

[Highrise Tower]

Rare photo of the Capitol Hotel building demolished! Photo was taken in 1913.

Edit: This is not the original Capitol Hotel, but the first Rice Hotel by Jesse H. Jones.

The old Rice Hotel, now being torn down to make way for the new eighteen story structure which will be the finest and completest in the Southwest. The old one was built twenty-seven years ago, and was for many years the best in the state.