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As soon as the tracks for the Sam Fordyce Spur of the Saint Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad were laid in 1905, local developers raced to develop and promote new towns along the line. John McAllen, J.B. McAllen, John Young, and Lon C. Hill formed the McAllen Townsite Company; along the tracks, just to the east, John Closner and William Briggs were developing the townsite of ‘East McAllen.’ For whatever reason - better promotion, Closner’s political connections, location - lots in East McAllen sold quickly; sales of lots in McAllen lagged. So it came to be that East McAllen was incorporated as ‘McAllen’ in 1911.
The new town’s mayor, O.P. Archer, believed McAllen needed a grand hotel to thrive. Archer formed the Rio Grande Valley Hotel Company with R.E. Horn, President of the First State Bank and Trust, and architect M.L. Waller. The sole purpose of the partnership was to develop Archer’s grand hotel adjacent to the Gulf Coast Rail Depot and fronting the grassy-green of O.P. Archer Park.
Waller designed the building in 1918. Originally the hotel contained 60 guest rooms, along with a lobby, dining room and meeting rooms, in an ‘H’ plan. The guest rooms were along the sides of the ‘H’; the lobby, dining room and meeting rooms were in the center. The complex was built resort-style in Spanish Colonial Revival, replete with lush palm landscaping and twin faux bell towers. Inside, rooms featured modern conveniences for the time - steam heat, private baths with hot and cold running water, electricity, private phones and even elevators.
The hotel grew as McAllen did. In 1939, R. Newell Waters, a Weslaco architect, was hired to add a south wing. The wing wrapped around the open ‘H’ plan, creating a courtyard for dining. Thirty-three years later, in 1972, the hotel was enlarged a second time. A north wing enclosed the last remaining portion of the original ‘H’ floor plan, created a second courtyard for a pool, and brought the total number of guest rooms to 175. Both additions kept with the Spanish Colonial Revival theme, done in red tile, white stucco, and exposed hand-hewn beams.
Although nearly tripling in size over time, one is hard pressed to tell the difference between the older and newer areas. The lobby and the dining room are original; the pool area is the 1972 addition. With its tropical landscaping, the entire hotel has a resort-quality feel to it. It’s nice to wander around, through the courtyards, or just to sit on the chairs lining the arcades around the pool. Staying here would probably be nice - provided you got a courtyard room. The funny thing is, from the outside, you might swear this was a model for the older La Quinta Motels. |
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