Site Of Pierce Hotel

The hotel belonged to a bargain with the railroad. Pierce let the New York, Texas and Mexican cross his land if he could pick station sites for loading cattle. The promised depot near his headquarters did not come, so after several years he built one at his own cost, and the stop became Pierce's Station. The post office opened in 1886, and the name shortened to Pierce in 1895. By 1914 the town was run by his nephew A. P. Borden, who in 1906 brought Brahmans from India for the estate.

What the plaque says

Site Of Pierce Hotel Here, in the 1890s, the celebrated Texas Cattleman A. H. "Shanghai" Pierce (1834-1900) platted the townsite of Pierce, which he hoped would become the Wharton County seat. Its proximity to his ranch headquarters in the central part of the county was a major factor in his choice of locations for the town. He laid out a public square, courthouse square, academy square, and a cemetery. He built several structures in the town, including a three-story hotel located at this site. The Pierce Hotel was designed to accommodate cattle buyers, traveling salesmen, and others attracted to the area by the railroad and Pierce's ranching interests. Located near the Southern Pacific Railroad depot and across from the present Pierce railroad entrance, the hotel was designed as the center of the town's planned growth, which did not develop. Although never opened to the public as a hotel, the building was used for various purposes by several long-term tenants. A landmark on the Texas coastal prairie for more than eighty years, the Pierce Hotel was razed in 1980. Still at this site of the hotel is its widow's walk, which was preserved as a symbol of the structure's historical significance. (1984)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Shanghai Pierce Ranch — 1.1 mi
• El Campo — 4.8 mi
• Glen Flora — 7.5 mi
• Wharton Training School — 7.6 mi