If you’re hoping to book a room at the historic Rogers Hotel in downtown Waxahachie, you’re a few years and a few decades too late. Today, this attractive four-story construction built in 1912 and designed by architect C. D. Hill serves as commercial and retail space for Waxahachie businesses. But it wasn’t always so. The Rogers was originally built for luxuriating and featured a roof garden restaurant, a swimming pool filled with warm water from nearby hot springs, a saloon, a billiards room, and rooftop sleeping cots and tents for guests with an enthusiasm for fresh night air. Constructed during a period of frequent town fires, the hotel featured reinforced concrete, a brick façade, and Bedford stone detailing, inspiring owners to advertise it as “absolutely fire proof”. Time has proven them correct as, unlike several other structures built during the period, the hotel remains standing and scorch-free. Today, the historic hotel is included in the Ellis County Courthouse Historic District’s National Register listing.

The hotel closed its doors sometime in the mid-20th century, a similar fate for many historic downtown hotels in Texas communities as customers began opting for overnights at more familiar chain accommodations along the urban edges and interstates. Today, the Rogers Hotel has been re-imagined as a commercial and retail venue, featuring specialty restaurants and an old-school barbershop.