The street level rental spaces currently contain a private lounge, two barber shops, TK's Kustom Kreations vinyl shop, L&L Kreations tshirts, Tina's Resale shop and one vacant retail shop. The hotel is not in use.
In January of 1926, Ernest O. Thompson of Amarillo stood before the Vernon Chamber of Commerce and proposed this five-story hotel that would consist of 100 rooms. He estimated that it would cost approximately $240,000 to build. He asked the city to provide the land for the hotel. The land was reported to be $21,000. Thompson told the Chamber on that date, "I assure you that I will build a hotel that will be a credit to the city, and I will operate it in a high-class manner." The Vernon businessmen agreed to the proposal and decided they would each donate what he considered the hotel to be worth to the community rather than deciding to all donate the same amount.
The hotel design was completed by Shepard & Wiser architecture out of Amarillo. This same firm designed the Herring Hotel in Amarillo and potentially the Memphis Hotel in Memphis, Texas. The Memphis Hotel was built under E.O. Thompson around the same year. The plans demonstrated the five story hotel would include 110ft. along Wilbarger Street and 120ft. along Fannin Street. C.T Herring and E.O. Thompson held the majority shares of the hotel until B.A. Winters purchased the final shares from C.T. Herring in May 1929.
The Wilbarger Hotel celebrated it's Grand Opening on February 11, 1927 under the management of Mr. M. W. Browne, Jr. Upon opening, retail shops along the ground level included King Beauty Shop, DeLuxe Cleaners and Alterations by Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Eddie Purejoy's Beauty Shop and Ve-O-La Shop. Over the years the retail spaces also included Ideal Cleaners, Roberts Booterie, Wilbarger Café and Catering, The La Pearle Shoppe, Dixon's Ladies Store, Mrs. E.C. Wilson's The Beauty Box, Jackson's, Leverett Writing Machine Co., Vernon Radio Lab and The Thrifty Shoppe among many others. Mediums/Fortune Tellers also had rooms within the hotel including Madame Thorp, Madame Dale and Consult Koran.
The hotel closed its doors in the 1950s. C.C. Hamm sold the property to Joe Latour in the 1970s. Mr. Latour renovated the 2nd and 3rd floor of the property in 1975 for the purpose of a dormitory for Vernon Regional Junior College(VRJC). The two floors for the dormitory were renovated to have a community bathroom at the end of the hall. The 4th and 5th floors remained the same from the building's years as a hotel. Those floors have a few rooms with a private bathroom and some with just a sink. The bathroom for those rooms was situated at the end of the hall. Two years after the dormitory was opened, VRJC opened their own dorms. Latour later rented the space to a half way program for individuals recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. Under Latour's ownership, there was a flower shop, Savings & Loan Association, pharmacy, insurance agency and barber shop among the retail spaces.
Latour sold the building to the current owner in 2001. The current owner's dream was to renovate the hotel into apartments; however, all that has been utilized is the ground level retail spaces. Today, the hotel sits at the corner of Fannin and Wilbarger along Business HWY 287 screaming for someone to bring it back to life. The façade of the building still beams with beauty. The interior is in need of a renovation, but contractors have said the beauty of the interior is that none of the walls are load bearing. Vernon has a booming hotel market, as we are perfectly situated along HWY 287. Can you imagine how intriguing this hotel would be as a boutique hotel to today's travelers? You could even utilize a few floors for apartments.