{"nrhp_refnum":"69000208","name":"Excelsior Hotel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Austin St., between Market and Vale Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Jefferson","county":"Marion County","state":"TX","lat":32.75588576100006,"lon":-94.34575911299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-10-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A hotel building on the north side of Austin Street in Jefferson, Marion County, Texas, with an original wing built around 1858 and a brick wing added in 1872, arranged in an ell around a courtyard.","why_significant":"The nomination ties the hotel closely to Jefferson's past. It began operating in the 1850s and hosted famous guests including Presidents Grant and Hayes, financiers Astor, Gould and Vanderbilt, and Oscar Wilde. It has operated continuously since opening, making it one of the oldest such establishments still in business.","narrative":"Excelsior Hotel in Jefferson, Texas, occupies the north side of Austin Street between Market and Vale Streets. Its oldest section, a two-story frame wing in the Classical Revival style, dates from about 1858 and resembles mid-century roadside inns found elsewhere in the country. A two-story brick wing was added in 1872, and a cast-iron porch runs across the Austin Street front of both sections. The ground floor holds a lobby, museum, ballroom and dining room, while the upper floor has a central hall with guest rooms. A courtyard formed by the two wings was landscaped in 1954 with brick paving and a cast-iron fountain. The hotel began operating in the 1850s and has run continuously since, which makes it one of the oldest establishments of its kind still in business. Guests during Jefferson's prosperous years included Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes, financiers Jay Gould and John Jacob Astor, and playwright Oscar Wilde. Texas designated it a historic landmark in 1966.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific dates c1858, 1872)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Classical Revival (northeast wing)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored; in good condition, occupied, and operating as a hotel and museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.182996-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/30/9729/40972930/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/69000208.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000208/546dd76a28-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000208/546dd76a28-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ExcelsiorHotel3.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ExcelsiorHotel3.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"71000949","name":"Jefferson Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/jefferson-historic-district-71000949/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972930","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107321539"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/marion-county/excelsior-hotel-69000208/"}