Old Hotel Wooten
Author: Melinda Luna PE
July 2024
The Old Hotel Wooten, now the Wooten Apartments, is located at 1102 North 3rd Street in Abilene, Texas. Until 1984, the Hotel Wooten was the tallest building in Abilene and the surrounding area. The 16-story tower was built at the corner of North 3rd and Cypress Street in 1930 by local businessman H.O. Wooten. According to local legend, Wooten paid cash for the construction during the Great Depression. H.O. Wooten had been in the wholesale grocery business since 1898 and helped the area by building grain silos. He also built another hotel and office building and bought the empty lot where the Wooten Hotel would be built, paying $100,000 (equivalent to $1.9 million in 2024 dollars).
Construction on the building began in May 1929, led by D. A. Castle in collaboration with architects and engineers. The initial phase involved excavating 9,000 cubic yards of soil at depths ranging from 11 to 15 feet to create a basement. E. V. McCright and Company of Dallas and Oklahoma were awarded the construction contract at a cost of $400,000 (equivalent to $7.3 million in 2024). Originally planned for 14 stories, the building was later expanded to 16 stories, with provisions to extend to 18 stories if desired. J. M. Bruton of Abilene served as the resident engineer for the project, which was scheduled for completion in ten months. The tower-like structure featured vertical setbacks at the fifth and fifteenth floors, supported by a foundation designed for twenty-one stories. By December 1929, concrete pouring had commenced on the top floor, which housed a water tank due to insufficient pressure in the city water mains to reach higher floors; a pump was installed to supply a 10,000-gallon tank above the sixteenth floor. Meanwhile, exterior brickwork had progressed to the eighth floor. At completion, the building stood at 208 feet, nine inches, establishing it as the tallest in Abilene and the surrounding counties. Elevators were integral to its design, facilitating vertical access. As of October, construction had reached the third floor. Floor plans for the building are available through the Portal to Texas History, archived by Luther/Parkhill, Smith and Cooper, Inc.
The building was completed in early 1930, and a grand opening was held on June 6 and 7, attracting thousands of visitors. A blue and red neon sign atop the building was visible for miles. The tower also created a wind current at the corner of 3rd and Cypress, causing issues for women wearing skirts on windy days, which attracted crowds of young male onlookers as well as women aware of the attention. In response to the growing indecency of the Wooten corner (variously nicknamed “Ankle Acre,” “Bloomers Block,” and “Wooten’s Whoopsy-Daisy”), the Abilene city council reestablished an old city ordinance forbidding the staring at unescorted women. Despite this, the wind remained a problem, and the ordinance was a topic of debate due to the unusual situation.
The hotel became the center of the city’s social scene, hosting meetings, dances, and other events. It remained a central hub in Abilene for much of the mid-twentieth century. By the 1970s, however, commerce had shifted south as Abilene’s population spread away from the town center. The hotel, along with much of downtown Abilene, fell into disrepair. Chunks of masonry and debris often fell on pedestrians below as the building aged, leading many to believe it was beyond restoration.
In 2005, the tower underwent a complete rehabilitation by the Beaumont, Texas contractor Daniels Building and Construction and is now an apartment building. The building stands as a great example of how historic structures can be repurposed.
