Diary of a Register

October 14, 2012 – Today Jack came back to Pearland and was at the house going through more boxes. I was hoping he would free me from this box the last time he was here, but he didn’t.  Maybe today will be the day. I hear him getting closer to my box. He moved the box right above me. I hope he doesn’t quit before he gets to me.

“OVER HERE, JACK! OPEN MY BOX!” I hear him! I hear him! He’s opening my box! “KEEP DIGGING, JACK. I’M HERE! RESCUE ME FROM THIS BOX!” He found me!

It’s wonderful to see the light of day once again.

He took me out of the box and leafed through my pages reading the names written there over 100 years ago.

Even though it has been over 100 years since I was created. I still remember what it was like to be a new register.

June 1, 1904 -  I remember when I was a brand new register made by the J. J. Pastoriza Printing and Litho Company in Houston, Texas. I began my life at 304 Main Street in Houston and I was model No. 3522. Being from Texas makes me proud. I was a bit discombobulated while my pages were being printed—each one with Bay View Hotel Palacios, Texas. I remember the day they finished my binding. I had a fine cover and tabs, one for each letter of the alphabet. I heard them say I was finished and the name Bay View Hotel was stamped on my spine. I knew then that I was to going to my new home. It was a place with a funny name that no one could pronounce, but it was in Texas. I heard them say it was by the water. I was anxious to see the coast.

July 1, 1904 - I was wrapped carefully and put on a noisy thing called a train. It seemed like that monster click-clacked forever before it finally stopped in that funny-sounding place, Palacios.

July 7, 1904 - My manager picked me up at the depot in the new town and took me to the brand new Bay View Hotel. I didn’t quite get there in time for the grand opening, but in July 1904. I could tell it was new because the white paint on the outside was still bright in the Texas sun. There the manager unwrapped me and proudly placed me on the new registration desk.

I was home and I knew immediately I was going to like it here. I could see new chairs in the lobby and a staircase going up to the second floor. Through the front doors and windows I got my first glimpse of the water that they called the bay. I could barely see some land on the other side, but I couldn’t see any buildings over there.

July 8, 1904 - The manager proudly wrote the first name, George Duson, on my D page with a scratchy pen that tickled. After that he wrote more and more names on my pages every day.

July 15, 1904 - The manager proudly told everyone who visited the hotel that it was designed by a man named Jules Leffland and was the first project of the Palacios Townsite Company. I had no idea what yellow pine and cypress were, but they must have been important because he talked about them quite a bit as well. He said a man named D. D. Rittenhouse told everyone how to put the hotel together.

July 31, 1904 – I heard the manager and some other men talking about the size of the hotel today. They say the Bay View is too small and they need to do something. I guess that’s true because the manager had to tell someone today that there was no room for them. Their name wasn’t written on my page. More rooms won’t be a problem for me because I have plenty of room for names on my pages.

August 13, 1904 – Tonight the hotel guests crowded onto my porches to enjoy the sea breezes and the summer moon. A band played “Yankee Doodle Dandy” while everyone danced.

August 24, 1904  - Mr. S. M. Lessene, a reporter from the Galveston News visited today and the manager, Charles A. Gonder, wrote his name on my L page. Mr. Lessene wrote about my hotel and the manager left a copy of his article beside me on the desk a few days later. That is how I found out that they are going to move my hotel to a new place about one-half mile away. Instead of facing east, it will then face south. I no longer will be able to see the sun come up in the morning, but that nice south breeze will come in the front doors and windows.

September 18, 1904 – Mr. Gonder wrote a note on my B page saying one of the railroad men was discharged and skipped out on his bill. That wasn’t very nice!

May 2, 1905 - That man named Mr. Leffland came back and he talked with the other men about building wings. I had seen birds with wings through the front doors flying over the water. How could a hotel have wings?

May 27, 1905 – Today Rev. W. H. Travis and his family came to my hotel. The manager wrote on my T page that they were guests of the Palacios Townsite Company. I heard them say Rev. Travis was going to start the Palacios College.

September 12, 1905 – This was a busy and exciting day at my hotel with young people filling the lobby. The building for the college isn’t finished so the students started their first session here. Rev. Travis’ family arrived on September 1^st to get ready.

March 8, 1906 – The names of Mr. H. B. Farwell and his wife were written on my F page today. I heard Mr. Farwell say he was going to manage the Palacios Townsite Company. That’s the company that built my hotel. The Farwells said they were going to stay a week, but they stayed almost 6. I guess they like my hotel as much as I do.

I don’t know what day it is because I can’t see the calendar.  The manager closed the hotel and started putting everything away. He put me in the cabinet in the registration desk and closed it tightly. I could still hear the noise from the workers who were taking the porch off to get ready for the move. They had to take down the chimney as well. I could hear the bumping as they jacked up the lobby and put logs underneath.

Today must be the big move. I wonder how long it will take. I heard them say they attached a pulley to the front of the lobby and a very strong rope was tied to a dead man! I had seen a lot of men who were alive, but how could a dead man help move the hotel? They put some wooden tracks on the ground and I can hear the men outside yelling at the mules that don’t seem to want to work. I sure wish I could see what was going on. After a long time of yelling and banging sounds, I felt the lobby move with a jerk. It started moving slowly to the southwest.

My part of the lobby finally stopped when it got to the new site. When all of the parts were in place there was a lot of noise while they put the hotel back together. They had to put the chimney back up and the porch had to be reattached.

I thought after the move was over things would settle down, but still I was left in the cabinet. I could hear the sounds of saws and hammers every day all day long.

Today most of the hammering stopped. I caught a whiff of the smell of paint through the crack of the cabinet door. Maybe most of this is over. I can’t wait until I can get out of this cabinet and see what is going on.

Today was the day. The manager FINALLY opened my cabinet, took me out and placed me on the registration desk once again. It sure was great to be out in the fresh air again! I could see more water. The sun wasn’t quite as bright as it was at the other place. Through the front doors I could see something that looked like a building on the water. I then heard someone say it was the new pavilion and was designed by that Mr. Leffland who designed my hotel. I heard them say the hotel had a new name, Hotel Palacios. How could they do that? My spine and every page plainly say “Bay View Hotel!” I sure wish I knew what day it is, but the manager lost his calendar during the move.

The day has finally come when crowds of visitors are back at my hotel. The manager used that scratchy pen and tickled my pages all day. I had almost forgotten how much it tickled. He spent most of his time turning my pages back and forth writing the names under the right alphabet letters. We were back in business. 

June 15, 1906 – Someone from The Palacios Times called a reporter came today and asked the manager many questions. The manager was very busy trying to tickle my pages and talk to the reporter. They walked all around and looked at the hotel while the manager bragged about carpet, furniture, artesian water, china and on and on. He told the reporter that not only were there no mosquitoes, there were no pest, pest, pestiferous cockroaches. They may not be in the kitchen, but I think he will find that doesn’t apply to the lobby if he takes a look at my D page! I wish they would close me up at night so they wouldn’t skitter across my pages.

July 3, 1906 – WHEW! Today was an exhausting day! Fifty-five checked into my hotel today. The manager really was busy writing all of those names on my pages. I wonder if those people even knew my spine said Bay View Hotel since I usually stayed opened during the day. I guess they could at least see it at the top of my pages.

July 4, 1906 – The name of Miss Harcourt from Mineral Wells was scratched on my H page. She sure was pretty and she smelled good. A lot better than all of those men that visit here smoking those ill-smelling cigars.

August 3, 1906 – Today was a noisy evening at my hotel. Baseball teams from Richmond and Cuero arrived for supper and stayed here in the men’s dorm, 50 E, while they played baseball over the weekend.

August 7, 1906 – Today Miss Ford checked in just before supper. I can’t tell if she is an Indian or not, but the manager wrote Ardmore, Indian Territory, Oklahoma on my F page.

August 8, 1906 - When I get a chance to look through the front doors, I can see people taking pictures of the hotel. Today one of the guests bought something called a postal with a picture of the hotel on the front and a stamp. They wrote on the postal, licked the stamp (yuck!) and put it on the postal. The manager put it in a special box so it could be mailed to the friend of the guest. The guest said he had been told there were no mosquitoes, but that wasn’t true. I think a mosquito is one of those buzzing insects that they smashed on my M page yesterday. I have seen a lot of those things around here. I wonder who said there were none? I guess if people see how beautiful our hotel is in those pictures, they will want to visit even if there are mosquitoes.

August 11, 1906 – Baseball players from Bay City came today and stayed all weekend. More noise and running up and down the stairs!

November 14, 1906 – A new manager, Mr. G. H. Crandall from Wisconsin, has arrived. His writing isn’t quite so tickly.

March 12, 1907 – Mr. Burton D. Hurd, his wife and son arrived in Palacios just before lunch today. I heard Mr. Hurd tell the manager that he is here to start a new town on the other side of the bay. I could see what was going on over there if my hotel still faced east. I wonder if it will have a funny name like Palacios?

June, 1907 – Mr. Crandall didn’t stay long. Now Mr. M. B. Hutchins is scratching names on my pages. Today, I could hear a band playing music in that building on the water they call a pavilion. I like Sunday afternoons better because the band plays on our front porch.

November 28, 1907 – Today is Thanksgiving Day. Mr. Jonathan Edwards Pierce and his son, from Blessing, ate a turkey dinner in my dining room. It sure did smell good! Mr. Pierce and his son have been at my hotel the whole month of November.

May 17, 1908 – The manager wrote the name of Mr. Edward J. Hale on my C page because he was with a group of 15 other people who came to my hotel for a Chautauqua. Another funny word! While I was wondering what a Chautauqua was, I heard someone say it was an assembly for entertainment and culture with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers and preachers. Sure sounds fancy! The people who stayed at the hotel were the speakers and only stayed a day or two before going on to another Chautauqua.

March 27, 1909 – Today Mr. H. T. Carter arrived at my hotel. Many people pay for extra activities like boating when they visit my hotel, but Mr. Carter paid $2.80 cents to play box ball on April 2^nd. I’ve seen a box and a ball, but I wonder what box ball is. Mr. Carter came back and said he went to a little building on the corner behind the hotel and rolled balls that knocked down pins. I still don’t know what box ball is, but it must have been fun because he talked about it for a long time. Maybe because he said he had a higher score than everyone else.

December 12, 1909 – A man named Mr. William F. Schwind spent the night at my hotel. He said he is starting a new town in Jackson County called Francitas. Don’t they name towns any normal names around here? He is from Nebraska and said one year from now other people will move to the new town of Francitas. I guess it is too far to see across the bay. A man named Charmel Noble was with him.

July 10, 1910 – J. B. Ortmann is the manager of my hotel now.

August 1, 1912 – On this day, the manager wrote the name of Mrs. Bledsoe. She had her two children with her. These were the last names written on my pages. I guess they are getting a new register that will say Hotel Palacios on it. I still had plenty of room left on my pages for the names of guests, but I guess my time as the keeper of the names has ended.

Copyright 2012 - Present by Carol Sue Gibbs
All rights reserved

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