Mr. T.B. Baker, hotel entrepreneur, saw a chance to cash in on the thousands of tourists coming to Mineral Wells to drink and bathe in the local mineral water which was said to have great medical qualities. After a visit to Arkansas, Mr. Baker decided to fashion his hotel, already under construction, after the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, at a cost of 1.2 million. The Baker Hotel enjoyed one of the most gala openings in history on November 22, 1929 and remained open until the late 1960’s.
The Baker reigned supreme for 25 years as one of the nation’s most glamorous hotels. It had been described as a city in itself. Consisting of 14 floors and 450 rooms, the Baker offered the very finest in resort hotel services. The second floor contained many conveniences for the hotel guests, such as a doctor’s office, beauty parlor, exercise room, steam room, and bath department, with its mineral baths and massages by trained professionals. The hotel also provided a private elevator for guests to use if they chose to go to and from treatments in robe and slippers.
Other amenities available in the hotel were a private club, complete with dinning and dancing, a drugstore, shopping area, barber shop, a mineral water drinking pavilion and babysitting services. A social hostess greeted the guests as they arrived. She would ask if they liked to play bridge or other card games, and would arrange for like-minded people to get together. There was bingo every night on the West Terrace, dancing in the ballroom, sunbathing in the garden and swimming in the huge outdoor pool. (Interestingly enough, construction of the hotel had already begun with excavation for the basement when Mr. Baker made his trip to Hot Springs and decided to pattern his hotel after the Arlington Hotel. The excavation originally intended for the hotel basement was converted into the swimming pool.)
The Baker was the “in” spot for the rich and famous to see and be seen. Another drawing card for the hotel, as well as the city of Mineral Wells, was the big name entertainment offered nightly at the Baker. Names like Herby Kay, Paul Whiteman (there is no mention of him, but Bing Crosby and the Delta Rhythm Boys were singing with Paul Whiteman at about the time of his visit to The Baker), and Lawrence Welk, only to name a few. With these great entertainers, also came great audiences that almost always included at least one famous face. Some of the stars seen frequently were Judy Garland, Will Rogers, The Three Stooges, Lord Mountbatten, Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, Elliott Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Helen Keller, Ronald Reagan, Roy Rogers and the famous World War II hero, Audie Murphy.
The medical advances made during the war resulted in the creation of antibiotics such as sulfa drugs and penicillin. Physicians no longer recommended that their patients go to health resorts. After the magic of the water faded, the Baker looked to small conventions and non-medicinal vacation packages for its survival. The Democratic State Convention was held here several time as well as the 1952 Republican State Convention at which the groundswell to nominate Eisenhower is said to have begun. In the 1950’s the Baker advertised its baths as the answer to over-worked, stressed-out executives. Eighty percent of the Baker’s non-convention business was Dallas and Fort Worth businessmen and their families getting away from the city. The massive advertising campaign led to the intervention of the Food and Drug Administration’s directive to cut back on advertising and stop claims that the mineral water was a cure all. In the early days of the Dallas Cowboys, when the games were blacked out in Dallas, people rented rooms at the Baker to watch the games on a station out of Wichita Falls.
During the mid 1960’s resorts around the nation experienced serious setbacks in patronage. The American lifestyle was moving at a more rapid pace. Women were seen in greater numbers in the workplace, the youth of America were taking bolder steps toward independence, and racial tensions were at an all-time high. Jet travel made more distant and exotic resorts quickly accessible to their customers.
Earl Baker, nephew of the founder, announced that he would get rid of the Baker when he turned 70. In 1963, just before he reached that milestone and had not fund a buyer, he closed its doors. A group of Mineral Wells businessmen bought the Baker in 1965 and reopened it, but the magic was gone. Fort Wolters, t he local military base, was closed, and the doors of the majestic Baker closed again in 1972.
There have been several attempts to reopen the Baker Hotel in the last two decades. All have been unsuccessful. The Baker remains for sale, waiting for another dreamer with grandiose plans to bring it back. The only guest is the rumored Baker ghost, said to be Mr. Baker’s mistress, which resides on the seventh floor.