History of Spirit Inn of Mission Valley formerly the Lafitte Hotel in Seadrift, Texas

Fire heavily damages historic Seadrift hotel on September 26, 2005.

The hotel was built in 1909 as a railroad hotel, two years before the coastal town began to grow. It operated for many years as a hotel.
The Hardings bought it in the mid-1980s and turned it into a bed and breakfast, which they operated until 1998 and lived in it after that.
“The stately structure has 10 rooms, breakfast in the downstairs dining room and an incredibility relaxing atmosphere,” Annette LeBouef wrote in a 1998 article. In her article, she warned, “Beware of the danger of sitting on the front porch and forgetting all about fishing.”
County commissioner Ken Finster, who has lived in Seadrift all his life, said that folklore has it that Bonnie and Clyde spent some time there. He also remembers earlier owners. “The little ladies that ran it would meet you at the door and ask if you drank alcohol. If you said yes, they wouldn’t let you stay,” he said.

For her 40th wedding anniversary, Judy Clegg got the porch put back on her hotel. That was just one of the stories she told recently on the moving and restoration of the Lafitte Hotel now located near Victoria, Texas on the Mission Espiritu Santo site overlooking the Guadalupe River.

Read and view other Spirit Inn of Mission Valley
history related articles and photos below:

Book traces the local adventures of Bonnie, Clyde

Outlaw couple stopped in Seadrift

Fire heavily damages historic Seadrift hotel

Fire at historic Seadrift hotel spares first two floors

Where is Seadrift's landmark Lafitte Hotel

Some history of the land the hotel is now currently on:
Mission Espiritu Santo - First Great Cattle Ranch in Texas
By Henry Wolff Jr.

Youtube Video Slide Show: Southern Texas Archaeological Association's 1998 field school at Mission Espiritu Santo (near Spirit Inn)

Informative Website:
The University of Texas at Austin - College of Liberal Arts
Texas Beyond History - Mission Espíritu Santo

El Camino Real in Victoria County

[ Click for enlarged image ] [ Click here for report ]