Excelsior House Hotel

The Excelsior House on West Austin Street began as the home of Captain William Perry, a New Englander credited with clearing Big Cypress Bayou for riverboats. The hotel dates its start to 1858, when Perry began taking boarders. It bills itself as the oldest hotel in continuous operation in Texas, and a historical marker near the entrance calls it the oldest hotel in East Texas. The brick and timber building has an ironwork gallery, and its rooms are furnished in rosewood, cherry and mahogany.

By 1959 the hotel was run down. A garden club bought it that year, and the members cleaned and furnished it themselves: each lady or couple took a room, did the work or hired it done, and furnished it. Plaques on the doors credit who restored each room. Governor Price Daniel attended the grand opening in 1962, and the club paid off its $150,000 loan in 1976. Listed past guests include Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Oscar Wilde and Lady Bird Johnson.

You can sleep here or take a tour, since the building works as a hotel and is open for tours. The dining room serves breakfast, and the hotel highlights its Orange Blossom Muffins. Call (903) 665-2513 for rooms and tour times. The garden club still sponsors a historical pilgrimage each spring and winter, and the Handbook of Texas notes that Jefferson holds an annual three-day spring pilgrimage.