I'm still thinking about Mineral Wells...so I wanted to share this great story about another hotel...with a sad ending, but nonetheless...very cool (no pun intended)
"The Hexagon House." Hotel Built in 1895..The Hexagon Hotel was built by David Gehugh Galbraith in 1895 and opened December 6, 1897 as a well ventilated hotel some sixty-one years before air conditioning became widely available. Constructed of long leaf yellow pine, the exterior was covered with cypress siding, and the roof was covered with hand-split cypress shingles. The entire interior trim was "Heart of Pine", a hardwood. All of the stone work was done by two English stone masons, the building was constructed with wooden pegs and square nails. Four stair cases started at the top and spiraled down through the five floors. The floor of the lobby was covered with hexagon shaped tiles in tan, brown and blue colors. The rooms were hexagon shaped with a bath located between every two rooms. Even before the days of air conditioning, Mr. Galbraith achieved a maximum amount of air circulation so necessary for the comfort of the guests in the hot Texas summers.
The idea for the hexagon architecture came from the honeycomb. David Galbraith, the owner, was the inventor of the paper clip. It was a great loss to Mineral Wells when the daughters and heirs to the Hexagon decided to have the hotel torn down for the materials in the building. Ira Tawater of Seagoville, Texas started tearing the building down on Monday, September 28, 1959. All of the materials in the hotel were still in perfect shape when dismantling began.
A very unfortunate loss..but wow! The inventor of the paper clip lived in Mineral Wells!! Hahaha. .
Very interesting house! Would have been another fun attraction in Mineral Wells if they would have restored it. Shame on the daughters. I bet they live in some fancy mansion in dallas, since their father invented the paper clip.
ReplyDeleteLiving off royalties by the invention of the paper clip! awwww so simple but so functional. Tom, you need to think of something fast so we can restore this house and never have to worry. Think! Think!
ReplyDeleteWhen my parent were first married, they lived in the Hexagon House in either 1956 or 1957. They have fond memories of the owner, Mrs Meriwether.
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