HOTEL LIMPIA 100 Memorial Square , Fort Davis
“ Hotel Limpia , named for a nearby creek , was built here by the Union Trading Company in 1912 . With a doctor ’ s office , drugstore , stylish guest rooms , and spacious porches , the hotel became a community social center where area news could be heard , a game of croquet played , or voting results observed . Guests included area ranchers and wealthy Texans , known as “ Summer Swallows ,” who came for the cool summer climate . Converted for use as apartments and offices , the hotel housed Harvard University personnel for almost 25 years . The Hotel Limpia was reestablished in 1978 . ( 1995 )”
Limpia is the Spanish word for ‘ clean ,’ a convenient advertisement for the hotel . The creek for which it was named has its head in the Davis Mountains and was an important water stop for both the San Antonio-El Paso Road and the Butterfield Overland Mail . With no railroad in the immediate area , these roads allowed visitors and weary travelers to access the Davis Mountains , whose mile-high elevation and sky-island ecosystem are a welcome respite from the West Texas heat .
The first Hotel Limpia in Fort Davis was built in 1884 by James Kebbee , and was an adobe structure located near the Fort . The current Hotel Limpia was built by the Union Trading Company , which was headquartered in a large complex that used to be a stagecoach stop and a general mercantile . The Union Trading Company included Fort Davis locals J . W . Espy , J . P . Weatherby and Nick Mersfelder , whose names all feature prominently in Fort Davis history . The new hotel was built of pink limestone quarried locally , and it quickly became the center of Fort Davis social life .
In 1956 , Harvard University installed a radio astronomy laboratory at the base of Mount Locke , just below the McDonald Observatory at the summit . From 1956 until 1982 , Harvard scientists and technicians used the Hotel Limpia for offices and housing . The hotel was purchased in the late 1970s refurbished to its original glory .
Cenizo
Winter 2022 29