City Hotel
La Coste, Medina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built in 1912 by Alsatian immigrant and prominent local developer Emil Schmidt, the City Hotel offered public lodging previously unavailable to visitors to La Coste. Its proximity to the railroad depot made it an ideal location to offer food and lodging to the growing number of visitors and business people involved in sales, expansion of the railroad, and the building of a dam in northeastern Medina County. The elegantly furnished rooms, verandas, and restaurant and ready clientele combined to make the hotel and restaurant an immediate success. Gus and Maggie (Ma) Keller bought the property in 1928 during the National prohibition against the sale of alcoholic beverages. They nevertheless ran a saloon in the hotel known as "Kellers Place" which according to local tradition allowed patrons to gamble and drink in a back room, an activity which because of timely telephone calls avoided police detection. Maggie, who managed the saloon for almost four decades, became the subject of local legend. One of the saloon's most prominent features was the large number of bottle caps which covered its walls and ceiling. The hotel is a local landmark recognized by generations of people traveling through or visiting La Coste. 1994
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Alsatian immigrant and local developer Emil Schmidt built the City Hotel in 1912, bringing public lodging to La Coste for the first time. Its spot near the railroad depot made it a magnet for the salesmen, railroad crews, and dam builders passing through, and its verandas and restaurant were an instant success. Under Gus and 'Ma' Maggie Keller after 1928, its back-room saloon—famously dodging Prohibition raids through well-timed phone calls—became the stuff of local legend, its walls and ceiling covered in bottle caps.
Why it matters
The hotel captures how the railroad reshaped small-town Texas commerce, and its Prohibition-era saloon preserves a colorful chapter of everyday resistance to national alcohol laws.
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Related people
- · Emil Schmidt
- · Maggie 'Ma' Keller
- · Gus Keller
Themes & tags
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