It opened at a point when time seemed to stand still, just before it jerked backwards. T.B. Baker threw open the doors of his 14 story, 450 room pleasure palace two weeks after Black Friday, the stock market crash in October, 1929.
But then, for the next 40 years or so, the hotel was ahead of its time.The Baker Hotel was glamorous, indeed. Baker, a hotel entrepreneur, designed it in the Spanish Renaissance style after the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Ark., another Southern city, like Mineral Wells, renowned for the curative abilities of its water. It was only the second hotel in the United States to have its own swimming pool.

Now, even in disrepair, the regal digs evoke wonder. Even cloaked in suffocating heat during a recent visit, standing in the wasted lobby it was easy to imagine Will Rogers shuffling up to the check-in desk, Gen. John J. Pershing marching down the stairs, or Marlene Dietrich sashaying in the grand entrance. They were just a few of the rich and famous who came here to “the South's greatest health resort.“

The Baker Hotel advertised its baths to “overworked, stressed out executives,” according to the Mineral Wells Chamber of Commerce, which notes that some 80 percent of the hotel’s business came from Dallas and Fort Worth businessmen and their families escaping the city. In the early days of the Dallas Cowboys, when the games were blacked out in Dallas, people rented rooms at the Baker to watch the games on a television station out of Wichita Falls, the chamber notes.

The hotel stayed busy. It was so popular it got the attention of the federal government, which made it quit advertising the mineral water as a cure-all. There began the beginning of the end.

Time, suddenly, was passing the Baker Hotel by.
By the 1960s, health resorts all over the country were losing business. Earl Baker, nephew of the founder, let it be known that he would get out of the business when he turned 70. In 1963, he did, and some Mineral Wells businessmen bought it shortly after - but the Baker's enchanted era was over. The hotel closed its doors for good in 1972.

In those days, folks in Mineral Wells told tales of those who drank the water and lived long into their 100s. The story of a demented woman who drank the water and became sane made news across the nation.

Some tried to bottle the water and sell it. Others tried to sell the land for outrageous prices. But only Baker had the genius to build a mammoth hotel on top of the well and advertise it as a resort for the wealthy, and for $30 a night -- about $200 in today's currency -- you could drink all of the water you wanted.

The Baker Hotel, as it once was.

Surrounded by comfort, guests could douse themselves in mineral water, which could take five years off their age, Baker advertised.

There is something almost eerie about Baker's ability to see the future. For example, many spa rooms were furnished with mechanical chairs with electronic devices that moved the feet back and forth and rubbed the back. The rooms' lights were linked to the door handle so that the light automatically came on when a guest opened the door.

This place became popular on a level that Mineral Wells hasn't seen since, it was hard to know what was the bigger draw, the hotel or the water.

The hotel had three stairwells, one for the rich, one for their servants and one for those who wished not to be seen. Judy Garland and Lawrence Welk fit in the first category. The outlaws known as Bonnie and Clyde fit in the last one. All visited more than once.

The hotel is full of little trick doors and secret rooms. In Baker's 10th-floor quarters, you can push back a cabinet to reveal a closet in which Baker reportedly concealed his liquor during Prohibition. On the third floor, a hidden door led to a gambling parlor.

Baker watched his masterpiece fall on hard times in his later years and died in 1972 just one year before his hotel finally closed its doors. What followed was a scenario similar to that involving the Settles in Big Spring.

New owners sold much of the interior, vandals sprayed graffiti on some of the walls, have broken windows and other features and the building fell into disrepair.

There is something ominous about a huge empty building that just sits there.

Reported Phenomena

Lights turn on and off by themselves in the Brazos room and the sweet smell of chocolate, similar to "Milk duds" can be easily detected at times. The smell also seems to accompany the presence of orb phenomena.

The sound of someone walking in high heels can be heard in the lobby. A possible apparition has been seen in the windows of the 7th floor. Also on this floor, a paranormal investigator was molested by a "friendly" feminine presence, until a female investigator showed up, then the presence became "angry".

Other interesting facts about the location include:
The area under the Olympic sized pool is open, supported by huge columns.

The Investigation

Initial Conclusions