HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

Hilton Hotel, Early

Marlin, Falls County, Texas

Marker Inscription

After Conrad Hilton had initiated career that later made him foremost innkeeper in the world, at first venture in boom town of Cisco brought a dream of Texas "wearing a chain of Hilton Hotels." Reality outran dreams. This was his eighth hotel. Marker dedicated to Conrad N. Hilton (born in 1887), one of the great men of America's southwestern frontier.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

After his first venture in the boom town of Cisco launched him toward becoming the world's foremost innkeeper, Conrad Hilton dreamed of Texas "wearing a chain of Hilton Hotels." This Marlin property was his eighth hotel, an early link in that growing chain. The marker honors Hilton, born in 1887, as one of the great figures of the American Southwest.

Why it matters

These early Texas hotels were the seedbed of a global hospitality empire and a symbol of Southwestern enterprise and ambition.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • ยท Conrad N. Hilton

Themes & tags

Industry & InventionFrontier HistoryLandmark

Nearby & related markers

Hot Mineral Water

Marlin, TX

A well drilled in 1892 to find a public water supply instead struck 48,000 gallons a day of hot mineral water from an artesian deposit. First thought unfit to use, the water was found to have supposed curative powers, and on the initiative of local citizens and physicians a health resort grew up, with a bath house in 1895 and a second well in 1910. Marlin became a magnet for health-seekers from across the country.

Marlin

Marlin, TX

Marlin became the seat of newly created Falls County in 1851, renamed from Adams in honor of area pioneer John Marlin. Its first courthouse was a log building that doubled as school and gathering place; a post office opened in 1851, the city incorporated in 1867, and railroads arrived in the 1870s. The 1892 discovery of hot mineral-water wells transformed Marlin into a noted health resort, drawing spas, hotels, and hospitals for the next half-century.

Highlands Mansion

Marlin, TX

Built around 1898-1900 by B. C. Clark, the Highlands Mansion rose in sturdy cypress crowned with a stained leaded-glass dome and windows imported from Italy. An elegant expression of Gay Nineties taste, it stood among the showplaces of turn-of-the-century Texas and figured prominently in early Marlin society. It was carefully restored in the 1960s and named a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1967.

Riesel

Riesel, TX

After the Civil War, fertile soil, good water, and rail access drew cotton farmers to this stretch of southeastern McLennan County, soon joined by German settlers from Washington County led by the Rev. Friedrich Von Schleumbach. The nearby postal stop of Roddy served the area until William Henry Riesel built a cotton gin here in 1890, giving a town a reason to grow. Von Schleumbach platted the townsite, and Riesel took shape as a local agricultural center.