A monolithic monument that seems to mark another time, the Baker Hotel rises up from the ground and can be seen for miles as you're driving into a town once known for it's healing waters; now with eerily quiet echos in the wind. As an adult, I'm still in awe, as I visit Mineral Wells and see the Baker Hotel.
The grandeur of the Baker Hotel in this small town makes me nostalgic...for my childhood, my grandmother, the town and its people.
The Baker Hotel opened in 1929 just weeks after the stock market crash, but enjoyed immense success all through out the 1930's as thousands flocked to this top spa destination. Housed with 450 guestrooms, 2 ballrooms, and other attractions such as a beauty parlor and bowling alley; in it's heyday, the Baker attracted celebrities like Clark Cable, Judy Garland, and Lyndon B. Johnson. It took 3 years to build and cost a whopping $1.2 million to construct. Another interesting tidbit...it was the first skyscraper to be built outside of a major metropolitan area.
Over time the business declined...who can say exactly how it began. World War II ended, surrounding businesses came and went. There's a natural ebb and flow to all things in this life...and so the story goes for the Baker Hotel.
Today, the Baker Hotel is just another stark reminder of how fickle life can be, yet how permanent man's stamp on it, is.
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