Hotel Bills

The above photograph of the Hotel Bills was taken by Xandra Morgan Carter in the summer of 1981 during the Centennial Celebration long after the building ceased to be used as the hotel.  At the time it was simply the home of Kate Bills, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Bills.

The 20 room building was constructed as an annex to the adjacent Bills Hotel (the old Adams House) during the oil boom, probably in 1919.  It is typical of the frame hotels built throughout the De Leon and Desdemona area in that period and is the only frame hotel of that period still standing to our knowledge (the Travelers was also built during that period but is a masonry building).

As you entered the building there was a seating area on the right and the counter was on the left.  A stairway on the left led to second floor.  The central hallway on each floor was flanked by rooms.  A larger room toward the rear of the first floor on the south side served as the Bills living quarters.  At the rear of the building was a dinning area and kitchen.  The kitchen had been added sometime after the building was constructed.  The Bills served fine food and many people ate their weekday lunches and Sunday dinner there.

Furnishings in the hotel were sparse by today’s standards.  Most had a double iron bedstead, a washstand and a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.     

The building is still standing and has been restored as a residence.  It is located in the 100 block of North Houston Street.

Key to room 12

The guest register for October 31 through November 4, 1919 during the height of the oil boom.  Guest ranged from H.M. Matsinger of Philadelphia to M.S. Fisk and wife of De Leon.  Glenn H. Hess indicated he was from Hogtown (Desdemona) while B.T. Higginbotham did not list his home city.  Other guest came from Beaumont, Tulsa, Walnut Springs, Dallas, Brownwood, Terre Haute, Indiana, Ardmore, Oklahoma and Comyn, Texas.

The previous week people had registered from New York, Kansas City, Washington D.C., Fort Wayne Indiana, Philadelphia, Tulsa, Dallas, Fort Worth, New Orleans, and Sipe Springs.

A card providing the rules and regulations of the Hotel Bills. Guest without baggage had to pay in advance.  Drinking intoxicating liquors or gambling in any part of the hotel was absolutely prohibited.  Guest had to refrain from loud talking or singing after reasonable hours.  Check out was 5:00 p.m.  If you left the light on unnecessarily or used attachments such as irons or cooking utensils, you were charged extra.  The card also quoted an 1899 law on defrauding hotels that included a $100 fine.

Florence Kate Bills, longtime proprietor of the Hotel Bills.  Born June 18, 1880. 

Died November 14, 1961.