The Magnolia Hotel

The Magnolia Hotel was originally built as a 2 room log cabin in 1840 by Texas Ranger James Campbell co-founder of Seguin. About 1844 the rear 3 room adobe (limecrete) structure was added and this became Seguin's first frontier hotel and stagecoach stop. This is also the location that legendary Texas Ranger John Coffee Hays married Susan Calvert daughter of the prominent hotel owner. Note that the stone stump still remains where servants would stand and announce the arrival of the stagecoach or pending Indian attack by ringing of the once Alamo bell. As the Indian raids continued until 1855, the underground safety shelter was dug out by hand beneath the main building that also served as the towns first jail. In 1852 the second story was added creating the finest 10 room hotel in the area. After the town survived the attacks from the Mexican Army, Comanche Indians and the perils of the Civil War the hotel regained its luster in 1875 as the first railroad arrived in Seguin. The hotel became the resting stop for thousands of early settlers to Central Texas and the main social gathering point for the town until the late 1900's. In 1936 the hotel had fallen into disrepair and was sold and transformed into a private boarding house and residence, and it was lost to the public for many years. The property was purchased in 2013 by Jim Ghedi and Erin Wallace Ghedi and they began the process of bringing the hotel back to its former glory. It is interesting to note over the 175 years of the hotel's existence thousands of guests have checked into the Magnolia Hotel but many say some of them have never checked out.