Matador, Texas
| Matador, Texas | |
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| Town | |
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 Location of Matador, Texas |
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| Coordinates: 34°0′50″N 100°49′18″W / 34.01389°N 100.82167°WCoordinates: 34°0′50″N 100°49′18″W / 34.01389°N 100.82167°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Motley |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.3 sq mi (3.4 km2) |
| • Land | 1.3 sq mi (3.4 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 2,382 ft (726 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 607 |
| • Density | 569.5/sq mi (219.9/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 79244 |
| Area code(s) | 806 |
| FIPS code | 48-47004 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1362272 |
Matador is a town in and the county seat of Motley County, Texas, United States. The population was 740 at the 2000 census. In 1891, it was established by and named for the Matador Ranch. It is located ninety-five miles east of Lubbock, Texas.
The Matador Ranch was consolidated in 1882 by a Scottish syndicate, and a post office opened at Matador in 1886.
At the end of the 19th century, townspeople freed the community from domination by the Matador Ranch, which was liquidated in 1951, by relocating non-ranch families there and electing their own slate of officials.
The community was incorporated in 1912 and made the county seat. The state required that a town have at least twenty businesses. Local ranch hands hence established fraudulent, temporary businesses using ranch supplies. The only real business in Matador at the time was a saloon.
Its highest population, 1,302, was reached in 1940.
Originally the Carter Hotel, the Hotel Matador was built in 1914 by Roy Carter and his wife, the former Jessie Simpson. For a rural area, the hotel had luxurious rooms with a bell hop, a full-time gardener, and laundry service. It had fifteen rooms, a dining room, and a large nine-foot, oak-rimmed tub as the only bathroom in the facility. An ice cream parlor which ran the length of the lobby operated until the 1920s.
The name "Hotel Matador" was coined in the 1920s. The hotel changed owners several times. Under the direction of Judge C.B. Whitten, it was a community gathering place for meetings, parties, and dances for young people. In 1941, hotelier and barber Warren Clements purchased the property. He turned the ice cream parlor into a barber shop. He also established living quarters for himself and his wife, Faye, with an apartment behind the hotel. Mrs. Clements maintained an English garden known for her prize iris, and under her tutelage, the hotel was known for its entertainment.
In 1980, Johnny (Sonny) and Evelyn Jackson purchased the hotel and restyled it into apartments. It later became a single residence but had been abandoned for five years when the current owners took possession and began reclaiming and restoring the historic facility. Three sisters, Marilyn Hicks, Linda Roy, and Caron Perkins, operate the Matador as an eight-unit bed and breakfast. The barber shop was converted to the Circle Cross Heritage suite, with the original tin ceiling and elaborate bathroom fixtures.
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Wikipedia