Hotel Herring Amarillo Texas. (original) (raw)

Amarillo Tx - Former Herring Hotel

Former Herring Hotel in Amarillo
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, July 2009

"The Herring was one of three oil-boom-era hotels built in the 1920s, and is now the only one standing. It was the largest of these hotels, and was home to the famous Old Tascosa Room where cattle and oil barons gathered to discuss business and unwind. This room featured western frescoes painted by noted muralist and artist H.D. Bugbee. Now only one of those frescoes is intact after a water main flooded the basement several years ago. The hotel's 14 stories and 600 hotel rooms made it the largest of the 1920s-era buildings. Its builder, Cornelius Taylor Herring, was a pioneer cattleman, oilman and banker. He also owned 98,000 acres of the LS Ranch north of the city." - Wes Reeves, December 22, 2005

Herring Hotel, Amarillo, Texas Hotel Herring, Amarillo, Texas Hotel Herring L- TE postcard R- 1950s postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/

Amarillo Tx - Former Herring Hotel ghost sign

Hotel Herring Forum:

I own one of the four Western Paintings that hung in one of the cattlemen clubs or a ballroom in the old Herring Hotel. There were four original paintings and when I was doing an internshipat BSA Baptist Hosptal in the early 80's, workers were loading them on the loading dock to be hauled away. I inquired about them and asked the workers to please stop as I had seen them as a child with my grandfather at the Herring. The person in charge of decoration at the hospital said, "We are getting rid of them because we are tired of that old cowboy look, if you want them you can have them". When I got down to the loading dock, one was removed and two had been hauled away. I have enjoyed it in my office all these years now and it is a treasure.
The Herring must have been quite the place for everyone from travellers, and cattlemen and people in the horse business as some of the early day meetings of the American Quarter Horse Association met there for some of their annual meetings. The Herring must have had quite a prestige about it, my family members said it was the place to be and it held a popular significance for the area. - David McMurry, April 9, 2006

HOTEL HERRING
First and foremost, I am very pleased that this wonderful building is still standing in downtown Amarillo, Texas!! When traveling to Amarillo, by car or horse for that matter, people would say they knew they were getting close to Amarillo because they could see the; "Tall and alone standing, famous Hotel Herring". It was a definite landscape landmark in that time.
My fondest memories of this building date back to 1959 thru 1964, when I was just a very young girl. My grandfather, Walter Winstead Holmes, was an oilman. He lived in Amarillo, along with all the other oilmen drilling for oil, during the 'Panhandle Oil Boom'. His office was downtown and when my family and I would drive from Borger to visit him, we would go eat lunch in one of the restaurants in the hotel. However that was not the most exciting thing for me. In the lobby area there was a fish pond. It was: THE FISH POND. The best ever in the whole world! It looked absolutely huge to me. The beautiful fish, running water and of course a duck or two could be seen in that pond also! Everything looked so Grand!! That lobby was just heaven. Marble, fixtures, pictures, OH MY!
My grandfather also had a suite, on one of the upper levels, which he lived in during his later years of life. There was a full kitchen, two bedrooms (I remember 2, I think), living room with fireplace and one bathroom. Very nice in that day and time. For Amarillo that was one very fancy and popular hotel. I was too young to go into the 'dance hall' area but it's my understanding that it had the most wonderful entertainment and wild parties!
My lunches and my visits with my most favorite grandfather will always remain close to my heart. He was the most wonderful, kind and funny grandfather a young girl could have! - Jackie M Dunlap, City Of Amarillo, March 03, 2006

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