{"nrhp_refnum":"80004105","name":"Hotel Cortez","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"300 N. Mesa St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"El Paso","county":"El Paso County","state":"TX","lat":31.759840522000047,"lon":-106.48786755299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-09-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Hotel Cortez is an eleven-story brick hotel at 300 North Mesa Street in El Paso, Texas, facing San Jacinto Plaza. It was built in 1926 as the Hotel Orndorff and designed by Trost and Trost.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the hotel is an elaborate example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture with Renaissance overtones, showing the skill of architect Henry Trost. It also occupies a site that has served El Paso continuously as a hotel location and contributes to the architectural character of the inner city.","narrative":"Rising eleven stories beside San Jacinto Plaza in El Paso, this brick hotel at 300 North Mesa Street opened on September 10, 1926, as the Hotel Orndorff. Trost and Trost designed it in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with strong Renaissance overtones. The second floor retains arched openings with French doors, pilasters and medallions, along with busts of helmeted conquistadores and Spanish coats of arms. A three-story arched entrance ends in a broken pediment, and a convex cornice with an egg and dart pattern crowns the building. The ground floor was later covered with modern materials and signage. The site had earlier held the Hotel Vendome and a four-story Hotel Orndorff. Mrs. Charles DeGroff commissioned the new building for $1,400,000. It was later renamed Hotel Hussman and then Hotel Cortez after a naming contest. President Kennedy stayed overnight in 1963. Lodging use continued until the late 1960s, and the building was vacant when nominated.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Trost and Trost","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Vacant at the time of nomination; leased in 1970 to the Department of Labor as the El Paso Job Corps Center.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.941889-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/88/9688/40968888/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/80004105.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004105/4695d923d3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004105/4695d923d3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Rogelio Rivero Cagigas","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Cortez,_303_N._Mesa_St._El_Paso.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Rogelio Rivero Cagigas</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hotel_Cortez,_303_N._Mesa_St._El_Paso.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"97000885","name":"El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/el-paso-county-water-improvement-district-no-1-97000885/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40968888","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Cortez_(El_Paso,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65098067"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/el-paso-county/hotel-cortez-80004105/"}