{"nrhp_refnum":"03000276","name":"Casa de Palmas","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"101 N. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"McAllen","county":"Hidalgo County","state":"TX","lat":26.204824382000027,"lon":-98.23435339199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-04-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Casa de Palmas is a three-story Spanish Colonial Revival hotel at 101 N. Main Street in downtown McAllen, Hidalgo County, Texas, built in 1918 with a 1939 south addition and a 1972-74 expansion.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the hotel was created by McAllen's civic leaders to establish the young town as a destination and commercial center. For decades it served as the community's main social gathering place and a base for agricultural businessmen and tourists. It is listed under Criterion A for community planning and development.","narrative":"Casa de Palmas is a Spanish Colonial Revival hotel in the center of McAllen, Texas, at 101 N. Main Street. Built in 1918 as a wood-frame, stucco-clad building with an H-shaped plan, it has red tile roofs, curvilinear gables, paired bell towers and a front courtyard lined with palms. A south wing was added in 1939, and a large expansion in 1972-73 wrapped around the older building to form a pool courtyard. Lightning-caused fire damaged the new work and the towers in 1973, and the hotel reopened in 1974. The hotel was developed by the town's mayor, O. P. Archer, and bank president R. E. Horn after efforts to attract an outside hotel firm failed. It was meant to establish the ten-year-old town as a commercial and tourist destination. Farmers, travelers bound for Monterrey, fraternal groups and families holding graduations and weddings all used it, and it served as the community's main social gathering place for decades. It remains in hotel use.","period_of_significance":"1918-1945","architect_builder":"M.L. Waller (architect), L.C. Lewis (general contractor); Newell Waters (architect, 1939 addition)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Spanish Colonial","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still used as a hotel; the form lists both historic and current function as hotel, with 170 rooms and five suites after expansion.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.814084-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/83/9725/40972583/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/03000276.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972583","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107318937"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/hidalgo-county/casa-de-palmas-03000276/"}