William David Grady's Alamo Hotel, Blooming Grove, Texas
by Tim Campbell · first published 31 December 2017 · his original post
Many folks who drive along Hinkley Street in Blooming Grove may not realize that the present day site of the Blooming Grove Fire Station was once a busy and beautiful Victorian era hotel.
One of the first, if not the very first buildings in town was the Alamo Hotel, built by the Grady family in 1889. William David Grady, the hotel's builder and original owner, was born in 1820 in South Carolina, the son of Reuben Grady. He married Martha Epper in the 1840s and had 3 sons, being Jonathan, Charles, and William. After Martha's death in 1856, W.D. Grady married Sarah Gates. W.D. and Sarah Grady had 3 children together, being Robert Burton Grady, Martha E. Grady, and Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" Grady. W.D. Grady migrated to Tishomingo, Mississippi by 1850 and Whiteville, Arkansas by 1860. He enlisted in 1861 in the 9th Arkansas, Company C, CSA. This unit was in the famous battle of Shiloh and was among the units that charged the infamous "Hornet's Nest". After the war, Grady came to Navarro County, Texas, where he established himself as a merchant in what would become the village of Gradyville, the predecessor to Blooming Grove.
When W.D.’s second wife, Sarah, died in 1869, he promptly remarried to the widow Henrietta Simpson (nee Henrietta Savage). Henrietta was the widow of Pierson Simpson, who had acquired the sheep ranch of H.P. Darlin (future townsite of Blooming Grove) from Darlin's heirs, then died within a couple of years. She and Mr. Simpson had children of their own, so the marriage brought two Gradyville families together, “Brady Bunch” style. In 1874, a son, Thomas Theodore "Tom" Grady was born to W.D. and Henrietta.
For some 20 years W.D. Grady and wife Henrietta farmed the beautiful prarie that would one day be Blooming Grove, all the while operating as merchants in Old Gradyville, one mile to the south. Finally, after community meetings and planning and politics galore, it was announced that the new Cotton Belt Railroad would come through Grady's property one mile north of Gradyville, and would bypass the very disappointed citizens of Dresden by about 5 miles.
The Grady family wasted no time in selling town lots and constructing the brand new Alamo Hotel directly across from the railroad in 1889. William D. Grady passed away in 1898 and is buried in White Church Cemetery, with the emblem of the Masonic Lodge emblazoned upon his marker. He had been a key player in developing the Grove from a tiny old west town with a store or two and dirt streets to a booming and bustling incorporated town with a railway station, gins, grocery stores, mercantiles, dry goods stores, barbers, physicians, drug stores, blacksmiths, a printing office, a lumber yard, photographers, hardware stores, a masonic lodge, a restaurant, a furniture store,a bank, and of course, the Alamo Hotel.
The Alamo was located in the southwest quadrant of the intersection of South Main Street and Hinkley Street. A photo of the Grady family and others is included with this post which was taken in 1895 on the hotel's front porch. In this photo, it is believed that William D. and Henrietta Grady are standing at far left. The bride and groom are Mary Missouri "Mamie" George and husband Robert Burton Grady, son of W.D. Grady. After the death of W.D. Grady in 1898, it was Robert B. and Mamie Grady who assumed management of the Alamo Hotel.
In 1900, at the time the census was taken, the following were listed as living and boarding at the hotel.
Robert Burton Grady, age 42 (hotel proprietor) Mamie Grady, age 30 Mattie E. Grady, age 4 David P. Grady, age 1 James S. Stubbs, boarder, age 23, (Dentist) Jacob A. Collins, boarder, age 32, (Physician) William H. Harris, boarder, age 24, (Bookkeeper at Lumber Company) William Fennell, Boarder, age 35, (Day Laborer) William S. Knight, Boarder, age not listed F.G. Cassy, boarder, age 47, (Dry Goods Salesman) Dilla Wright, boarder, age 57, (no occupation listed)
Also listed in the next household was Robert's mother, Henrietta Grady and son Tom Grady, and others.
Sometime between 1900 and 1910, W. D. Allen became the manager of the Alamo Hotel. Your author is not certain, without a trip to the courthouse to examine land records, whether Allen actually purchased the hotel or it remained in the Grady family and Allen was hired to run it. As of the 1910 census, the inhabitants at the Alamo were as follows -
William D. Allen, 52 Nora Allen, 41 Georgie Allen 16 Willie Allen, 13 Jerry Allen, 7 Fred Wakefield, boarder, 30 John Hitt, boarder, 36 Reese Harris, boarder, 25 George Mabry, boarder, 38 Charlie C. Jinks, boarder, 24 D.M. Holland, boarder, 45 Lon Gustus, servant, 40 Susie Gustus, servant, 35
By 1920 W.D. Allen had moved on to bigger and better things, and was running a hotel in Corsicana with three or four times the number of boarders that were in the Alamo. Managing the Alamo was Hiram M. Warren. Living at the hotel in 1920 were - Hiram M. Warren, 46, Hotel Keeper Henrietta Warren, 34 Loris Warren, 6 Doyle Warren, 3 Boyd Shaw, 26, bank clerk S.E. Paines, 20, Manager of Saw Shop Murray Price, 22, Clerk in railroad depot Ivy George, 60, Retired farmer Rufus Loyd, 42, Grocery Merchant Minnie Loyd, 31 Charlie Duncan, 29, Oil Salesman Will Phillips, 32, Mechanic Annie Grinstead, 28, Farm Laborer
The Alamo appears to have traded owners a few times during the 1920s. Fred Cumpston owned it at one point, then either sold it to a Mr. Larrimore or allowed him to run it. It had become known as the Larrimore Hotel by the late 1920s. It's final owner was Ed King of HIllsboro.
On Tuesday, March 27, 1928, at 2 o'clock in the morning, a fire engulfed the hotel and virtually burned it to the ground. The Corsicana Daily Sun reported the loss of the building at approximately $4,000 and stated the building was covered by insurance.