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HISTORY Our hotel is named after the founder of Waxahachie. Emory W. Rogers built his log cabin home near the site of the hotel in 1847 and later donated land for the Ellis County Courthouse in 1850. In 1856, Mr. Rogers built a two story hotel on this very site, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1881. A second hotel, built here by The Waxahachie Real Estate & Bldg. Assn., was also was destroyed by fire in 1911.The present building was designed by Architect C. D. Hill in 1912 and opened in early 1913 at a cost of approximately $100,000. The hotel has twin four story towers constructed of reinforced concrete, faced with dark mottled brick, trimmed with Bedford stone and claimed to be "Absolutely Fire Proof". The West tower roof was designed with a roof garden restaurant with a panoramic view of the city. The East tower roof was designed for sleeping tents for open air enthusiasts. The basement was designed with a billiard room, a barber shop and a swimming pool supplied from a nearby hot well. INTERESTING FACTS
The following is from an
article written about the hotel in 1979.
Adapted from Parade Of Buildings - The Rogers Lot By Brian Bennett
Emory and Nancy Rogers constructed the first building on what later became Lot 1,
Block 1 in the town of Waxahachie.
Rogers had obtained a headright (640 acres) from the Republic of Texas in 1839. In 1847 he began cultivation of a farm on the headright. In the fall Rogers and his family moved to the land and lived in a tent while construction of a log cabin progressed at the site that is now Rogers Hotel. This was the first building in what later became Waxahachie. As time passed the Rogers' cabin became a hospitable place on the frontier where weary travelers and even Indians were accommodated to a bed and a meal. The cabin was open to those in need. A spring of fresh water utilized by the Rogers family was located beneath what later became the Waxahachie Laundry Building at the junction of College and Water Streets. In the earliest days of Waxahachie the generosity of the Rogers family was of note to those who visited this home. The home served as the site of most social gatherings such as religious and town meetings as well as a primitive frontier hotel of the area. After the formation of Ellis County, the election for the location of the county seat was held in the Rogers' cabin in early August of 1850. Probably due to Rogers' offer of land for the county seat, the cabin was chosen over Grove Creek and Reagor Springs as the site. The county seat was named Waxahachie as prescribed by the legislation creating the county. Before the Civil War, Rogers had a two-story building constructed. In 1855 or 1856 the main house entrance faced Main Street, but a hallway opened on College Street. Rogers then placed an advertisement in the Dallas Herald:
This advertisement ran periodically in the Herald from July 5, 1856 until
February, 5,1862.
Tandy, Rogers' son, helped his father operate the hotel until the late 1860's
when he took over the management.
Upon the death of Tandy Rogers, his father sold the hotel in early 1870.
In 1870 John S. Siddons purchased the Rogers House. He placed the following advertisement in the July 30, 1870 edition of the Waxahachie Argus:
Siddons owned and managed the hotel until the Waxahachie Real Estate and Building Association purchased it from him for $5,500 in September of 1881. In March of the following year the Real Estate and Building Association hired Mr. Wilson, a Dallas architect, to draw plans for a new hotel. The planned hotel was to be three stories. On the lower floor were to be business houses fronting on College Street. The office and dining room were to face Main Street and guest rooms were to be located on the second and third floors. The planned dimensions of the building were 84 by 125 feet. Within two months of the announcement of these plans, tragedy struck. On Tuesday, May 9, 1882 at 1:30 a.m., with the ringing of bells, the shrill whistle of the railroad engine and the cries of "Fire," the town awoke to see that the Siddons Hotel was burning. The fire had started in the kitchen or north end of the hotel. The losses were great. In addition to the destruction of the hotel, insured for only $1,800, and losses of possessions to occupants, the city lost one of its outstanding citizens as a result of the fire. Stephen A. Clift had an attack of paralysis and his death followed. He had been one of the townsmen who fought the fire. Plans for rebuilding the hotel were continued soon after the fire, but the Real Estate Association made some changes. Contractors Berry and Grant of Dallas began construction of the new brick hotel on Tuesday, May 30,1882. The building was to be 123 by 85 feet and was to contain business houses, an office, a dining room and kitchen on the lower floor, plus about twenty-five rooms and a court on the second floor. An awning ten feet wide was erected on the south and west sides of the building. In June, the corner room of the hotel's first floor was rented to T . A. Mottox who was to start a first class saloon there. The hotel construction was completed by late September or early October and Mrs. Brown of Corsicana rented the hotel from the Real Estate Association and became the operator for a $125 monthly rental. She named the hotel Rogers House. This hotel, later known as the Rogers Hotel, housed most of the visitors who came to Waxahachie during its period of industrialization. Railroad men, salesmen, bankers, politicians, and businessmen all were accommodated as they took their part in the building of Waxahachie and Ellis County. Arrivals at the hotel were newsworthy enough that the Enterprise recorded them weekly. The hotel was the outstanding hotel in Waxahachie until it was destroyed by fire in 1911. On Sunday, November 12, 1911, the Rogers Hotel again met destruction at the hand of a fire. At the time of the fire, the hotel was full of guests who lost most of their belongings. The fire began at about 3 a.m. in the north wing of the building. By about 6:30 a.m., firemen finally had the blaze under control, but not until the hotel had been completely destroyed as well as the Odd Fellows Building, the hotel annex and the Express building. Firemen faced great difficulty in fighting this fire because of a brisk wind and the temperature, which was so low that fire hoses froze. The hotel had been valued at $35,000 but the insurance amounted to only $12,000. Hotel furniture was valued at $6,000, but there was only $4,500 insurance coverage. 
Soon after the debris was cleared away, the construction of a new hotel was begun.
The hotel was opened in early April of 1913.
Robert Harrison leased the hotel from the Real Estate Association and became the manager.
The hotel was convenient to all the railroad stations and the interurban line.
It was four stories high except for the annex on College Street and had a full basement.
 The building was constructed of reinforced concrete
with dark mottled brick trimmed with Bedford stone.
The hotel was supplied with pure soft artesian water and each room was provided
with hot and cold water and part of the rooms had private baths.
Steam heat, electric lights, fans and a vacuum cleaner system were added for the
benefit and comfort of the guests.
All rooms had a telephone directly connected to outside lines through a switchboard
in the office.
There were parlor rooms and sample rooms.
The dining room was supplied from the model kitchen and serving pantries, which
were located in a separate wing in the back of the dining room.
There was a dumb waiter service available to every floor and the roof garden.
All the outside openings were screened.
The office was located near the center of the ground floor.
Such a location enabled the clerk to view all entrances and exits including the
stairway, elevator, dining room and the service areas.
The lobby and lounge or writing room was large and roomy, well ventilated, lighted
and finished in tile.
The mezzanine floor extended over the office and was accessible to the dining
room by a stairway and an elevator.
Two telephones were located under the main stairway.
A part of the annex on College Street was used as the interurban station.
The stairway or elevator reached the second floor.
There were French windows opening onto a court, which could be utilized as a summer garden.
The suites, which adjoined the court, also were supplied with a similar
connection so that a reception or entertainment could be held.
A dumb waiter was provided.
Large sample rooms were located in the annex with a freight elevator
to handle trunks and other large items.
These rooms were also used for banquet rooms.
The third floor was the same as the second except
there was not a parlor or annex.
All the rooms were sleeping rooms or suites.
The fourth floor was the same as the third. The roof was divided in half. The western half was arranged for a roof garden for parties. The eastern half was used for tents for the open-air enthusiasts. Each roof was accessible from the elevator by a separate entrance. The basement of the hotel could be entered by a stairway from the street or by inside stairs or by elevator. There was a billiards parlor, a barbershop, a bath and a trunk room located there. D. A. Newman of Bonham, who operated hotels in Corsicana, Bonham and Quannah, took charge of the Rogers Hotel on January 1, 1921. He purchased it from the Waxahachie Building Association for the price of $111,000. D. R. Newman, his son, and his wife came to Waxahachie to operate the hotel. Robert Harrison, the previous manager, sold his holdings, fixtures, and furniture to Newman, thus ending a sixteen-year association with the Rogers Hotel. The hotel operated until late 1964. After World War II, the hotel business had declined and was no longer profitable. The hotel was sold to C. A. Wilson Company and was closed for guests for many years. |
