Shuttered Texas hotel has had century of fires, pain
San Angelo Standard-Times
SAN ANGELO, Texas— The six-story building, its windows boarded and broken, has been known by many names. The Naylor Hotel. The Landon. The Nimitz. Town House.
The former hotel at 302 S. Chadbourne St. had a long history of being burnt down before the city shuttered it in 1983—because it wasn't up to fire code, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported .
It began as a glorious two-story hotel in 1881, owned by the son of Carl Nimitz, who owned the Nimitz Hotel in Fredericksburg. The hotel was obliterated by fire in 1883 in a murder cover-up, according to StandardTimes archives. The cook killed his kitchen helper and set a fire to cover up the deed.
That was the first tragedy in a long line at the location.
The property was bought just two years later by James C. and Rosa Landon. Together, they created a San Angelo luxury hotel that thrived for seven years.
The place was two stories of native sandstone, filled with all the luxuries of the time.
"If you wanted an elegant meal or a posh place to stay in San Angelo, Texas, this was the place to go," according to Be Theatre's research. The hotel is commonly part of the theater's annual Ghost Walks, but it won't be featured this year.
Through years of research, Be Theatre reconstructed the night the Landon fell, Aug. 11, 1902.
It was midnight when night clerk Earl Cain decided to make a snack, causing the stove to explode, according to StandardTimes archives. He rushed in and found a fire raging in the kitchen, where he tried to subdue the flames. Unable to stop the hungry fire's consumption, he raced up the stairs to alert the Landons.
Together, the trio started alerting the hotel's 75 customers and herding them outside through the two exits. James and the clerk brought their people out, but when James searched the growing crowd, he did not see Rosa. Customers told James that Rosa was valiantly trying to gather the remaining customers.
It was in vain. On a balcony, Rosa stood with a businessman from the Sante Fe Railroad, a woman and her two sons and a grandmother from Houston cradling her baby grandson. The crowd below gathered blankets and urged the fear-stricken group to jump for the makeshift net.
But the balcony collapsed into the raging fire. Eight people died in front of the helpless crowd, according to Standard-Times archives.
History was doomed to repeat itself. The Landon was rebuilt as a three-story hotel, but was plagued by tales of hauntings.
"Maids working in the hotel told the tale of seeing a woman weeping piteously as she cradled a baby in her arms protectively," according to Be Theatre's research.
Those maids quit on the spot, avoiding another fire in 1925.
What now stands is the bones of the Naylor Hotel from the 1930s. Since then, the building has gone through several names and at least $235,190 in renovations.
"It was shut down in 1983," according to Be Theatre's research. "Ironically, because it could not meet city fire codes."