Hilton Hotel | |
 Hilton building in 2010 | |
  Hilton Hotel  Hilton Hotel | |
 Interactive map showing the location of the Dallas Hilton | |
| Location | 1933 Main St., Dallas, Texas |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°46′54″N96°47′39″W / 32.78167°N 96.79417°W /32.78167; -96.79417 |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1925 (1925) |
| Built by | McKenzie Const. |
| Architect | Lang and Witchell |
| Architectural style | Beaux-Arts |
| Part of | Dallas Downtown Historic District (ID04000894[1]) |
| NRHP reference No. | 85003092[1] |
| RTHL No. | 6739 |
| DLMK No. | H/28 |
| DLMKHD No. | H/48 (Harwood HD) |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 5, 1985 |
| Designated CP | August 11, 2006 |
| Designated RTHL | 1988 |
| Designated DLMK | February 26, 1986[2] |
| Designated DLMKHD | February 28, 1990[3] |
TheDallas Hilton, constructed as theHilton Hotel and today operating as theHotel Indigo Dallas Downtown, is a historic hotel opened in 1925, located at the corner of Main Street and S. Harwood Street indowntownDallas,Texas (United States). The hotel is acontributing property in theHarwood Street Historic District andMain Street District. It is also located across the street fromMain Street Garden Park.
TheHilton Hotel, built byConrad Hilton, was his first hotel to bear the "Hilton" name.[4][5][6] Conrad Hilton operated one of the two earliest hotel chains in the state, and went on to become a world leading hotel operator, with an international chain of hotels and resorts.[5]
Unlike his earlier hotels, which were bought and renovated but not built by Conrad Hilton himself, the new hotel in Dallas was designed by Hilton from the ground up to be a prominent high rise hotel.
For the building site Hilton chose the highest point in downtown Dallas.[7] Hilton retained the prominent architectural firm ofLang and Witchell,[6] one of the two most respected firms in Dallas, to design the new hotel. They designed the hotel as a 14-story, reinforced concrete and masonry structure in a simplifiedSullivanesque style with symmetrical facades andBeaux Arts detailing. Its horseshoe plan is similar to that of theMagnolia Building and features two massive towers projecting toward Harwood Street which form an open court. The towers were tied together on the main (Harwood) facade with a frontispiece entrance and an elaborate bridge at the tenth level.[5]
Ground was broken on July 25, 1924 and the building was completed just over one year later for a total cost of $1.36 million—Hilton's second most costly Texas highrise.[5] The hotel officially opened on Thursday, August 6, 1925. Hilton maximized all available space in the public areas of the hotel for an assortment of vending services. The presence of the druggist, men's shop, barber shop, valet service, beauty shop, coffee shop, tailor, cigar/news stand, telegraph office, dining room and others dovetailed with Hilton's emphasis on service while the rents those services paid supplemented the finances of the operation. Not wanting to tie up capital in land ownership, Hilton introduced the idea of a 99-year land lease with the Dallas Hilton. The concept was well known in the East in 1925, but it was new to Texas commerce circles.
Hilton's private offices were also located on the mezzanine level as were seven sample rooms with Murphy wall beds. The 325 guest rooms were typically small and were painted in colors of pearl gray and cream. The rooms and corridors were carpeted. Most had full baths, and the rest had half baths. Seventy-five percent of the rooms had south or east exposure for maximum ventilation; no rooms were located on the west.[7]
The competition of the luxuriousAdolphus and Baker Hotels located just blocks away compelled Hilton to formulate a marketing strategy for attracting a new clientele — "The Average Man" — to whom a moderately priced, modern hotel of handsome design would appeal in a city where there were few alternatives.
During the Great Depression, Hilton lost four hotels and saved five, one of which was the Dallas Hilton. In 1938, he relinquished the operating lease of the Dallas Hilton after his move to California. George Loudermilk, the owner, contracted with another well known hotel operator in Texas, A. C. "Jack" White, in July 1938 to run the hotel. White changed the name of the hotel to theWhite Plaza Hotel. He also undertook improvements totaling $150,000, including improvements to the air conditioning system. The 325 rooms were converted to 234, all with private baths.[7] Loudermilk resided at the hotel until his death in 1953.[5]
In 1961, the building was sold to Earlee Hotels, but the hotel continued to bear the name White Plaza until 1974.[6] During these years the hotel began to deteriorate and decline in popularity.
In 1977, Opal Sebastian, real estate investor, purchased the building and changed the name to thePlaza Hotel. All floors above the fourth level had been closed for an unknown period of time, and all rooms were in poor condition. Sebastian reopened the floors one at a time as they were rehabilitated.[5]
On February 15, 1985, the hotel was sold again to the Dallas Plaza Partners of California, made up of Hotel Equity Management and Blackmond, Garlock and Flynn real estate merchant banker of San Francisco. The Dallas Plaza Partners contracted withCorgan to restore the hotel and Jerry O'Hara to renovate the interior, which took ten months. In December 1985, TheDallas Plaza Hotel opened its doors. It was later renamedThe Aristocrat Hotel of Dallas and managed byHoliday Inn.[5]
The building was added to theNational Register of Historic Places and designated aDallas Landmark in 1985.[8][9][10] It was also designated as aRecorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1988.[6]
In 2005, SMI Hotel Group purchased the hotel. In conjunctionInterContinental Hotel Group, the parent company of Holiday Inn, began the conversion to theHotel Indigo Dallas Downtown.[11] During this renovation property's interior underwent a $5 million renovation that introduced hardwood floors, spa-like guest bathrooms, a business center and an upgraded fitness area. Today the hotel contains 3,000 square feet (280 m2) of meeting space and 169 rooms.[4]
Media related toHilton Hotel (Dallas, Texas) at Wikimedia Commons
