Name/Title
Hotel O'Neil [Photograph]Description
Photograph of the front and one side of Hotel O'Neill in 1923, which was located at 313 Spring Street in Palestine, Texas. It is a four-story brick building with some architectural embellishments around the windows; it also has a roof over the front entrance with a "Hotel O'Neill" sign. Cars are parked on the street in front of the building. This building was razed in 1983.Context
Palestine's O'Neill Hotel was located at 313 Spring Street but was actually the third hotel to sit on the site. In 1873, following the coming of the railroad to town, the Laclede Hotel was built there, but was destroyed by fire in 1876. The following year, a Dr. Manning of Oakwood erected a brick building known as the International Hotel on that location. It was purchased in 1882 by Col. George Burkitt who turned over operations to Mrs. Emma Nolen. During her tenure, the property was known as the Nolen Hotel, but when she moved to St. Louis, Col. Burkitt himself took over the management. That building was razed in 1922 and the "new" O'Neill, maiden surname of Burkitt's Irish born mother, was constructed on the site. The O'Neill boasted not only hot and cold running water in its guest rooms, it was also equipped with an electric Otis elevator and a radio receiving set on the mezzanine for entertainment of the hotel's guests. When Texas Gov. Ross Sterling declared martial law in the East Texas Oil Fields and ordered the National Guard to take it over and shut-in all wells, the O'Neill became the staging center where the command cadre spent its first night "in the field." During the oil boom, the hotel was a favorite meeting place for oil operators, lease hounds and geologists. Among the famous early day oil men who slept under its roof and conducted business out of its rooms were H.L. Hunt, Harold Byrd, Jack Frost and other wildcatters.