The Redland Hotel, 1906-1907

The Redland Hotel, 1906-1907. . The Redland Hotel, Nacogdoches' first modern hotel, opened in 1907 and offered guests private bathrooms, steam heating, and a fine dining experience. The Redland provided wagon and later bus service from the train depot. The opening was a gala affair. In 1908, presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan stayed at the hotel and made a speech from the balcony. Aross the street from the new Nacogdoches Opera House, the Redland hosted many theatrical companies and patrons. The Marx Brothers even began their comedy routines in the Opera House while staying at the Redland. When Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College opened in 1923, the town celebrated with receptions at the Redland., German-born architect D. Rulfs designed and built the Redland. His plans called for a building of pressed red brick (two types, one from Beaumont and the other from Garrison) with stone trim and "equipped with every modern convenience." The promoters-E.A. Blount, B.F. Hardeman, J.C. Harris, and Robert Lindsey had to delay the opening when the Nacogdoches Union of Carpenters and Joiners forced Rulfs to stop work in October. A compromise settlement allowed the $30,000.00 structure to open in March of 1907. The original hotel had two stories and extended west to what is now 322 East Main. Commercial businesses occupied the store fronts on the west; in the rear, there were two dining rooms (the larger one also served as a ballroom). The building had a long balcony across the entire front of the second story with access provide by tall, uniform windows., After the original owners sold the hotel in 1909, it briefly took the name "New Murphy Hotel," but later owners returned it to the Redland. A.T. Mast, Sr. bought the property in 1929; it continued as a hotel until after World War II. The main architectural change came when the McCrory Department Store purchased the west half, bricked up the arched passageways between the lobby and the dining rooms, and reworked the facade. In 1977, the property sold to the present owners, The Godtel Ministries.