Blackstone Hotel
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The first Art Deco skyscraper in Fort Worth, the Blackstone Hotel was erected in 1929 for wealthy cattleman C. A. "Gus" O'Keefe, who named it after a visit to the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. The St. Louis architectural firm of Mauran, Russell, and Crowell designed the structure. The city's first radio station, WBAP, once occupied the 22nd floor. A five-story annex was added in the 1950s by the Hilton Hotel chain, which occupied the building from 1952 to 1962. Featuring original sash windows, irregular setbacks, and ornamental terra cotta detailing, the Blackstone Hotel remains the city's tallest pre-World War II structure. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1998
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When it rose in 1929, the Blackstone Hotel gave Fort Worth its first Art Deco skyscraper, built for cattleman C. A. "Gus" O'Keefe, who named it after a Chicago hotel he admired. The St. Louis firm Mauran, Russell & Crowell dressed it in irregular setbacks and ornamental terra cotta, and the city's first radio station, WBAP, once broadcast from its 22nd floor. The Hilton chain ran the hotel in the 1950s and added an annex, but the Blackstone remains Fort Worth's tallest pre-World War II building.
Why it matters
The Blackstone captures the confidence of the late-1920s boom, when cattle-and-oil wealth reached skyward in the Art Deco style just before the Depression.
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Related people
- · C. A. "Gus" O'Keefe
Themes & tags
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