Not far south of Dallas Texas, in the town of Waxahachie, the old Rogers Hotel was at one time the place to see the celebrities. It was a gem of a hotel in a small town south of Dallas with a very colorful past. Today the Rogers Hotel is alive and well and is a center for entertainment and shopping. The Rogers Hotel now offers posh shopping, dining and office space and this historic hotel also offers a limited number of rooms for guests.
A Luxury Hotel
The Rogers Hotel, built in 1912, served as the residence for professional baseball players as well as such famous celebrities as Frank Sinatra.
It was also said that Bonnie and Clyde were also seen at the Rogers Hotel. This old hotel in Waxahachie TX was also used for scenes in the 1983 movie, Places in the Heart. Music videos have also been shot on the hotel premises.
The Rogers Hotel, which sits across the street from the county courthouse at College Street and Main, was named in honor of Emory W Rogers, the founder of Waxahachie Texas. Rogers originally built his log cabin on this very site in 1846. In October of 1849, Rogers received a grant of 640 acres along the north fork of the Waxahachie Creek to establish the seat of the newly created Ellis County.
The first Rogers Hotel was built on the site in 1856 but was later destroyed by fire.
Among the new 1912 hotel’s amenities included a rooftop garden and a basement natatorium. The basement also featured a barber shop and billiards room.
During some of the Texas hot summer nights cots were placed for guests on the roof top. This was luxury during the early 1900’s.
A Home for Major League Baseball
Major league baseball teams often resided at the hotel during spring training. These included the Detroit Tigers during 1916-1917, the Cincinnati Reds in 1919 and the Chicago White Sox in 1921. This was during the period before many teams conducted spring their training in various Florida towns and cities. This was the hotel that baseball fans could run into Ty Cobb and other ballplayers.
Like many old historic hotels, the Rogers Hotel was closed for a long time. Decades passed before the hotel came to life again. If you’re wondering if the storied hotel is haunted, the answer from many people is yes.
Rogers Hotel Hauntings
The haunted hotel story that has gone around centers around the new owner searching for his maintenance man. After finally locating the man in his locked room, the maintenance man refused to come out.
Apparently the maintenance man received a knock on his door the previous night. This in itself was somewhat odd since the hotel was being renovated. Nobody else was expected to be on the premises during the night hours. When he opened the door a man was standing there in attire of another era. The man asked the maintenance man to follow him into the basement where the natatorium was. The mysterious man mentioned that bad things happened there and then simply vanished in front of his eyes. The maintenance man bolted back up to his room and locked the door behind him. The next day he quit his job and fled never to work at the Rogers Hotel again.
Below are links to several additional Trips Into History photo articles you’ll find interesting.
Historic Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas NM
On our Western Trips site you’ll enjoy the article about the historic Palace Hotel in Silver City New Mexico.
Over the next several months the owner heard of stories from some of his cleaning help. Stories of strange things happening in front of their eyes. Things like footsteps and voices.
One of these employees also decided to quite her job. Strange happenings were also reported by Rogers Hotel guests.
One female hotel guest reported that she saw a man dressed in cowboy attire standing at the foot of her bed.
A hotel night clerk reported the elevator going up to the fourth floor (many of the strange occurrences happened on this floor) and return to the lobby with nobody inside. This was particularly strange since no guests were checked in on the fourth floor. There are additional stories like this as well.
Visiting Waxahachie Texas
Waxahachie TX is located about 30 miles south of Dallas along Interstate-35.
It is also about 65 miles north of Waco TX. For more information about the Rogers Hotel in Waxahachie Tx see website http://www.waxahachiedowntown.com/rogers/http://www.waxahachiedowntown.com/rogers/
Waxahachie is the county seat of Ellis County Texas which was formed in 1849 from land from Navarro and Robertson Counties. The county is named in honor of Richard Ellis who was president of the 1836 convention that produced the Texas Declaration of Independence. The Ellis County Courthouse shown in this article was built in 1895. The courthouse was built a bit differently than many of the other Texas courthouses. In has more of an open plan with an open space in the center of the building. The large second floor courtroom was built to one side. This was different than most of the courthouses built with intersecting halls. The architectural plans for the building were created by J. Riely Gordon.
It’s said that the Ellis County Courthouse is among the most visited of all the historic Texas courthouses.
(Article and photos copyright 2013 Trips Into History. Ty Cobb / Joe Jackson photo from the public domain)