Driskill Hotel
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Driskill Hotel
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The Driskill in 2013
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| Location | 604 Brazos Street Austin, Travis County, Texas, United States |
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| Coordinates | 30°16′5″N 97°44′30″W / 30.26806°N 97.74167°WCoordinates: 30°16′5″N 97°44′30″W / 30.26806°N 97.74167°W |
| Built | 1886 |
| Architect | Jasper N. Preston and Son |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 69000212 |
| RTHL # | 13931 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 25, 1969 |
| Designated RTHL | 1966 |
The Driskill, a Romanesque-style building completed in 1886, is the oldest operating hotel in Austin, Texas, United States, and one of the best-known hotels in Texas generally. The Driskill was conceived and built by Col. Jesse Driskill, a cattleman who spent his fortune constructing "the finest hotel south of St. Louis".
The Driskill is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The hotel was completed at a cost of $400,000. Its four stories occupied almost half a block, with three arched entryways on the south, east, and north sides. Carved limestone busts of Driskill and his two sons, Bud and Tobe, crowned the hotel on each of these sides. Six million bricks went into the structure, along with limestone features.
The hotel's 60 rooms included 12 corner rooms with attached baths, an almost unheard-of feature in any hotel of the region at that time.
The hotel included an open design to encourage airflow throughout the building and keep it cool; its primary feature was an open rotunda at the center that extended from the first to the fourth floors and culminated in a domed skylight.
Other embellishments included an electric bell system, marble bureaus and washstands, steam heating, and gas lighting. The gas pipes throughout the building particularly led Driskill to make the hotel as fireproof as possible, with 18-inch-thick walls between the rooms and two layers of iron between each floor. The steam boilers, kitchen, and laundry facilities were relegated to the back (north) side of the hotel to prevent their odors from permeating the hotel.
The building was built with a special ladies' entrance that allowed female guests to proceed directly to their rooms, thereby avoiding the rough talk of the cattlemen in the lobby.
Jesse Driskill, a successful cattle baron, had moved to Texas from Missouri in 1849. Flush with cash from his service to the Confederate Army, to which he supplied beef throughout the Civil War, he decided to diversify by constructing a grand hotel in Austin, his adopted hometown. In 1884, Driskill purchased land at the corner of 6th and Brazos for $7,500 and announced his plans. He hired the architectural firm of Jasper N. Preston & Son to design the structure.
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Wikipedia