Located at the corner of Grant Avenue and Third Street in the heart of Odessa's growing business district, the hotel symbolized the community's overnight transformation from a struggling ranching region to an oil boomtown. When oil investors flooded into Odessa as the hotel was preparing to open, accommodations were in such demand that guests insisted on helping hotel employees to move in the furniture. Business boomed from the beginning with a steady stream of ranchers, oilmen, salesmen, speculators, musicians, movie stars, politicians and others, all finding hospitality on the premises. During the years, luminaries as boxer Jack Dempsey, singer Rudy Vallee and musicians Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey signed the guest register. Adm. Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett make the first successful flight over the North Pole.
Information is drawn from news accounts, archives and other historical records.
20th Century Countdown. The Odessa American's daily countdown of the last 100 years, from 1900 through 1999, with a short summary of some news and newsmakers affecting residents of Odessa. Copyright 1999 Odessa American. All rights reserved. Refer comments to Webmaster .