Business & Tech
Parking Lot in Dallas Once Housed Hotel
Ownership of a downtown Dallas building changed hands several times throughout the years.
The lot in between and in downtown wasn’t always a place for cars to park. In the 1800s, it was the site of the Foote Hotel, a two-story wooden building.
The hotel was built in 1857 by George W. Foote Sr. in what was Block F on the original survey of Dallas. The city was divided into various blocks and then lots within each block. They were 80 by 80, 40 by 80, or 40 by 40.
“Just about every planned town was laid out in blocks and lots to be able to sell them,” said Jason Edwards, ’s historian.
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The hotel was totally destroyed by fire in December 1876. In 1877, Foote rebuilt the hotel on the same lot, making it two and a half stories tall. In 1882 he sold the hotel to his son, James B. Foote
From 1882 to 1885, it was operated by W.A. Christian and was called the Christian House.
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In 1885, James B. Foote resumed management of the business and added onto the hotel. He built another two-story section that was located where Curl's Pharmacy now stands. Foote ran the hotel until shortly before his death in 1894. At that time, the building was sold to W.S. Everett, who leased it to a Mr. Marchmon, who ran a hotel called the Marchmon House there for several years.
After Marchmon, the building was leased to Dr. W.C. Connally, who bought it in 1903. Until it closed, it was known as the Hotel Connally or the Connally House. After Connally’s death in 1907, his wife and sons continued to run the business.
In 1948, the Connally House closed, and Wendell Welch bought it to have it torn down. Welch had built the Dallas Theater and had hoped to use this property to build a large, state-of-the-art theater in town, but he had a hard time getting building supplies because of World War II. However, he did use the property as a place to show outdoor movies there when the Dallas Theater burned.
The current structure was built in 1950 as Moss Chevrolet, which was operated by W. K. Moss. Moss ran the business until 1957, when he sold it to Marvin Jones. Jones relocated the business to Memorial Drive.
In 1963, Earl Duncan opened a drug store in the building, which he ran until the 1980s when it became Curl’s Pharmacy.