Painstakingly restored and exceptionally comfortable, The Antlers is a charming inn on Lake LBJ, just an hour west of Austin, Texas. The Antlers, built in 1901, started off as a hotel for tourists coming to town by train. The property owned by the rail company also included a couple of cabins for the station master, the conductor and the crews of men working on the trains or the hotel at the time. Now, the property also includes antique rail cars and some newer cabins.
The area where the Llano and Colorado Rivers meet has long been a gathering place and resort area in the central Texas Hill Country. First it was used by Paleo-Indian people as evidenced by archaeological sites found in the area, followed by the Comanches and other hunter-gatherer tribes. Archeologists speculate that the unusually large number of artifacts found indicate that this river site was a frequent camping area for various tribes to socialize, share information, and trade. Eventually settlers came, including Martin D. King who purchased land in 1877 and for whom the town of Kingsland is named. In 1892 The Austin and Northwestern Railroad built a railroad bridge at the juncture of the two rivers and a depot between the tracks in Kingsland. They brought the tracks through Kingsland from Austin as an extension of their Burnet to Llano line. The line is best known for bringing the granite from Granite Mountain in Marble Falls to build the Capitol.
The Antlers Hotel was begun in 1900 by Captain Leitnaker, head of The Austin and Northwestern Railroad, and was completed in 1901. This two-story wooden structure was built near the railroad, so passengers could disembark the train and walk to the hotel. The wide verandas on both floors gave unobstructed views of the country and of the Colorado and Llano rivers. Small cabins were built around the hotel grounds. Across the street was a half-block park with cottonwood trees and a large Pavilion complete with stage and dressing rooms. There was a lake behind the hotel then called Crescent Lake, five miles long formed by a lock thrown across the Colorado River. Fishing was excellent. The Antlers opened on May 1, 1901 for tourists and business travelers coming to Kingsland by rail. Framed historical newspaper articles from that date now hang around the hotel telling of events of the era-including a cross-country trip by President William McKinley who toured Austin May 3, 1901.
The Antlers Hotel was named in part for The Antlers hotel in Colorado Springs, a new and fashionable railroad resort that opened a few years earlier. The name is quite suitable because Llano County was then and continues to be a major deer hunting area. From an early photo of the hotel, one can see the large advertising sign painted on the roof of the “Sunset Route” railroad emblem with an antler’s head above it and the words “The Antlers” underneath it. A copy of this photo now hangs in The Antlers dining room. A large park surrounded the hotel and the place was a beautiful and restful one. From a booklet published by The Houston and Texas Central Railroad (who had acquired the Austin and Northwestern Railroad and The Antlers Hotel), Kingsland is described as a village possessing great attractions for those seeking rest and pleasure, for the wonderful natural scenery, the Llano River, and the comfortable hotel. (From “Health and Pleasure Resorts on the H. and T.C.R.” issued with the compliment of the Passenger Department). Historian Anne Harrison writes that Kingsland was known as “The Little Adirondack Village” and was a favorite Central Texas recreation center in early 1900’s.
The hotel was a fashionable resort and on weekends the railroad ran excursions out from Austin. The hotel also catered to traveling salesmen or “drummers” and to cattlemen. There were 11 bedrooms in the hotel each with a lavatory, there was a barbershop, game room, and hot baths could be had. There was adjoining campground, Riverside Park, just north of The Antlers, on ten acres of land that fronted on Crescent Lake, the park was kept in good condition for vacationers, hydrants and waterworks were installed. It had tents with wooden floors and there were telephones connected to the hotel for campers to order lunches from the hotel kitchen. C.F. Smith was the chef for The Antlers from 1901 to 1905. His wife was the pastry chef. In his diary, notes are made of meals prepared and events of the day. On November 29, 1903 his son was born and named Antlers J. Smith for “The Antlers-the place we cater to high class visitors from Austin, Houston, Beaumont, Galveston, Llano, Waco, San Antonio, Ft. Worth, and all High Class Cattlemen of Texas.” The son, Mr. Antlers J. Smith, returned to the hotel in 1994. He remembers seeing his father cook at the large wood fired stove in the kitchen; using the basement as a summer kitchen, and watching the guests’ large trunks coming rolling—head over heels—down a ramp from the west end of the back upstairs porch. This section of porch was enclosed in the 1930’s to accommodate indoor plumbing.
The Antlers Pavilion was the center of activity for tourists and town folks alike. Ellen Williams, wife of Commissioner Shirley Williams, writes “South, across from The Antlers Hotel, the railroad company built a Pavilion. This was a large open building and it was the coolest place in town for activities. (You see, we had not even dreamed of air-conditioning in those days.) The Pavilion was free and open to the public. Oyster suppers (probably all you could eat for 25 cents), picnics, political meetings, revival meetings (all denominations attended) and stage plays were all held here. Of course, dances were one of the main attractions. We really danced in those days—waltzes, two-step, schottish, polka, and of course the square dance. Music was usually provided by fiddlers and guitar pickers. It was all good, clean fun.” Muriel Jackson writes of traveling shows and Chautauqua’s putting on plays and community singings.
The railroad resort prospered that first decade of the 1900’s. As the automobile entered American life, vacationing by rail and activity at railroad hotels slowed. In 1913 Mr. C.E. Schults bought the hotel from Texas Town Lot Company, a subsidiary of Houston and Texas Central railroad. In 1914 resident Muriel Jackson recalls, “A wagon bridge was built across the Colorado when my uncle, Henry Smith, was Commissioner. Before the bridge was built, people waded across or forded the Llano at the low water crossing at Lions Park. There was a large sand bar there with the river flowing through the middle. The flower of Kingsland faded with the coming of the automobile. The good times were over. People with cars now had other vacation spots available to them. They no longer had to ride the train to Kingsland. Cattlemen could transport their cattle to market in cattle trucks and trailers cheaper than shipping by rail. With the automobile, people could drive to larger cities and towns to shop. Businesses were forced to close, and many people moved away. Once more, Kingsland was almost a ghost town.” On February 3, 1918, Mr. C.E. Schults sold The Antlers to a family from San Antonio, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Van Der Stucken, who ran it as a hotel for two years, and then used it as a summer home. A fire destroyed much of the town of Kingsland in 1922, leaving The Antlers as one of the few historic buildings left in the area.
Thomas H. Barrow had been a guest of the Antlers in its heyday. He and other family members signature are on the guest registry. Some of the Barrow family had leased and operated the hotel around 1908. Mrs. Thomas H. Barrow took her children, L.T. Barrow and younger brother David, two sisters—Maime Dell and Anne to vacation at nearby Campa Pajama in the summer of 1911. The family had enjoyed vacationing in the area for years, and in 1923 Thomas H. Barrow bought The Antlers from the widow of Alfred Van Der Stucken, acquiring it for his family. For the next 70 years, generations of Barrows spent summers and vacations at the old hotel, becoming part of the community and the history of Kingsland. Anne Barrow married Eric Lappe' of Kingsland and stayed in the area. The historic Lappe’ Ranch is just up the Colorado River from The Antlers.
In November of 1993, the Antlers property was sold by the Barrow family to Barbara and Dennis Thomas of Austin, Texas. Renovation took place over the next three years under the leadership of Anthony Mayfield. The old hotel was refurbished first, followed by several of the cabins around the property. To the west of the hotel is the Wild Plum cottage and behind that the River Trail cabin. The architectural details of the hotel and these two cabins indicate all were built at the same time. There is evidence of other cabins throughout the property, but it is not known how many were from the 1901 era. Antlers J. Smith son of the chef, remembers living in a building near the hotel, but not the exact location. It is possible cabins were used for hotel and railroad staff as well as overflow for guests. The Antlers reopened September 1, 1996 with Anthony and Lori Mayfield as managers. The Antlers was added to the national Register of Historic Places as part of the Kingsland to Llano Historic Railroad District, and in 2002 became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Through the years, The Antlers has continued to grow. An arts and crafts old house used as a bakery in Marble Falls was purchased, moved to The Antlers and renovated for more rooms. New cabins were added throughout the property. Three cabooses were found on the internet and moved by rail from Decatur, Illinois to become some of the more popular accommodations at The Antlers. When Pastor David Henry and family told us about the availability of an antique wooden rail car, we refurbished it to become the McKinley Coach, one of the oldest items on The Antlers property. There is also a Victorian house, briefly used as a set location for the movie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which was moved from Round Rock. It has become a restaurant, while its neighbor in Round Rock – the old red barn, also made the trip to Kingsland to be used as storage. The Depot—moved from Muldoon—had already endured one move in its history to house hay for a cattle rancher. The Depot was relocated to the Antlers, first as a gift shop, and then it was reconfigured as more rooms in the railroad theme.
Down by the shoreline, there were remains of an old log cabin with a limestone chimney and foundations stones strewn around. The cabin was far too deteriorated to save. However, across the Colorado River from The Antlers was another log cabin on the old Buckner Ranch property. When the ranch sold to a new development, the log cabin came available. In 1997, it was moved to The Antlers property where the limestone chimney and foundation stones were incorporated and new chinking was added to the log structure. It wasn’t until 2009 that the relatives of this cabin came to The Antlers to confirm that this was the old Hoover Cabin, constructed in 1860 by the Reverend Isaac Hoover of Hoover Valley. In 2010, the Hoover family had a dedication ceremony installing a plaque and photos to preserve the history of this cabin. It is a wonderful meeting place for friends and families down by the water.
Also in 2010, Jay Littlepage was succeeded as the innkeeper of the inn by Susan and John Boyd. The Boyds managed The Antlers Inn when Rick Gregory and Drew Gerencer opened their restaurant, Grand Central Café, in the neighboring Texas Chainsaw House in 2012. In 2015, Rick and Drew moved their successful coffee shop into the lobby of the hotel when they took over management of the inn with the plan to purchase the property from Barbara and Dennis Thomas. In October of 2017 Rick and Drew officially purchased The Antlers and its cabins and train cars.
As the proprietors of the new Antlers Inn, Rick and Drew manage and own Kingsland Coffee and gift shop, Grand Central Café, and The Antlers Inn accommodations.
The Antlers Inn sits on several acres of the original plat known as “Old Town Kingsland” with lawns and trails through the woods going down to the water. Visitors arrive by car now to enjoy this beautiful, Texas Hill Country railroad resort on Lake LBJ.
HISTORY OF THE RED, YELLOW AND GREEN CABOOSES
Since The Antlers Hotel was built by the railroad as a resort, the owners were looking for a way to add more accommodations that would be in keeping with the railroad theme. It was decided to look for old railroad cars or cabooses that could be renovated into additional hotel rooms.
In 1996 a notice on the Internet of a railroad auction in Decatur, Illinois that included Norfolk & Western cabooses came to the attention of the owners. Dennis Thomas made a trip to Illinois to the Norfolk Southern auction (Norfolk & Western had merged in 1982 to become Norfolk Southern) and purchased the three cabooses. After the auction, Norfolk Southern Railroad moved the cabooses on the railroad tracks from the Decatur rail yard to Memphis, Tennessee. A Union Pacific train heading to Texas picked them up and pulled them to McNeil, Texas. The Longhorn Railway Company then brought them to Kingsland depositing them on the tracks in front of the Antlers Hotel.
All three of The Antlers cabooses are Norfolk & Western cabooses that were originally built by The International Railway Car Company in Kenton, Ohio especially for the N&W Railroad. The red and green cabooses are Class C31-P cabooses, some of the first modern cabooses built for N&W starting in 1958. The red caboose (N&W #518543) was built in February 1969 and the green caboose (N&W #518693) was built in March 1970. They had an overhead safety rail, three single bunks, a propane gas fuel tank for a refrigerator, cabin heat and a hot plate. Electric power was supplied for the radio and marker lights. There was a toilet and stainless-steel sink combination unit supplied by a 66-gallon overhead water tank. The cupola had two seats facing each other. The cupolas were built off-center.
The yellow caboose is a Class C32-P. It is part of the last 100 cabooses built by the International Railway Car Company from April to September 1976. The yellow caboose (N&W #555397) was finished in September. Upon delivery it weighed 54,000 pounds and cost $45,000 fully equipped. The major design change in this class of caboose was a centered cupola. While it was furnished with much of the same equipment as the older cabooses, it never had bunk beds-instead, they used the extra space for additional office area. According to the book, Cabooses of the Norfolk and Western, by April of 1994 all three cabooses were “off roster” or retired. By tradition, a line was painted through each caboose number indicating it was no longer in use and they were sent to storage for scrap.
Once the cabooses arrived at The Antlers, plans were made to move them to a permanent location on the hotel property. A short line of track was laid, cranes and flatbed trucks were hired to lift the car body section and the trucks (wheel section) of each caboose and put them in their current places. It took most of the day to perfect the moving system with the first caboose. The other two followed in a couple of hours.
The box interiors were redesigned by the owners as hotel rooms with bathroom, kitchen, queen-size bed, bunk beds and small living area. One side of the observation cupolas were left intact just as the railroad crews used them to watch for fires caused by sparks from overheated friction bearings and to signal the engineer. Anthony Mayfield carried out the designs with his creative craftsmanship. As a tribute to those trains that serviced the Kingsland area in its history, the owners decided to use heralds from three of the railroad companies—Texas and New Orleans Railroad, Austin & Northwestern Railroad, and Houston and Texas Central Railroad. These heralds are painted on the outside of the cabooses along with the original N&W model numbers.
Cabooses have been used since the 1840’s when they evolved from freight cars. Conductors used them as offices, storerooms for extra lanterns, flags, tools, first aid kits, spare parts and as living quarters-a home away from home. Sometimes, specific cabooses were assigned to specific conductors and when the conductor was off-duty; his caboose was uncoupled from the train and parked on a sidetrack. He had an instant hotel room until his next train assignment came along. Cabooses were located at the end of the train so crews could monitor the back half of the train as well as locate another brakeman. Before the air-brake system was invented, in order to stop a train, a brakeman had to hop on top of each car roof to set each car’s brakes. If there was a brakeman at each end of the train-one with the engineer in the locomotive and one with the conductor in the caboose-they could each work from their end of the train, setting brakes on cars and meeting in the middle bringing the train to a halt much faster. Cupolas and end-platforms or porches began appearing on cabooses in the 1860’s. Both added observation points for the conductor and crews to look for fires, track hazards or other approaching trains, especially when long trains had to go in reverse making it impossible for the engineer to see.
By the 1920’s, more than 25,000 cabooses were registered across the United States. Many nicknames had sprung up-hack, buggy, chariot, dog house, parlor, brain box and cabin, but the most popular nickname referred to a caboose as a “crummy.” Red was the traditional caboose color originally. However, after World War II, lots of colors began appearing. Railroads began using signature colors on all of their cars. Burlington Northern had green with yellow ends. Chesapeake & Ohio had yellow and blue with orange trim; Conrail had blue and white. Illinois Terminal Railroad had lime green. Our Norfolk and Western Class C31 cabooses were originally blue, then later painted red with white lettering. The Class C32 caboose was originally painted dark red with white lettering with just the logo-NW-painted above the numbers.
By the 1980’s, railroad technology was advancing. There were new communication systems, new wheel construction (roller bearings), and an electronic end-of-train (EOT) device that started the demise of the caboose. The railroads began phasing out cabooses, donating many to railroad museums, selling others for scrap. Cabooses are not entirely extinct in the railroad industry. A small number are still in use as backup cars, storage cars and maintenance cars. Many cabooses have found a new life in the private sector as offices, guest houses and even hotel rooms. Many are owned by historical organizations, by businesses and private collectors. Cabooses continue to be quite collectible and the goal of American Railway Caboose Historical Educational Society (ARCHES), organized in 1995, is to produce a complete listing of cabooses in America-where they are now and how they are being used. All three of The Antlers cabooses are registered with ARCHES.
The cabooses at The Antlers are very popular. Some guests return to stay in all three colors. They are photographed so often that we decided to have postcards made showing the trio. Thanks to Dottie Mansfield for providing a great photograph. They are available in the lobby or the gift store. Much of the information used here was found in the following books or from information from the historical societies:
American Railway Caboose Historical Educational Society (ARCHES) P. O. Box 2772, St. Louis, Missouri, 63116.
Cabooses of the Norfolk and Western, by Robert G. Bowers and James F. Brewer,
Norfolk and Western Historical Society, P. O. Box 201, Forest, Virginia, 24551, 1994.
Caboose, by Mike Schafer; Motorbooks International, 1997.
HISTORY OF THE MCKINLEY COACH
The International & Great Northern Railroad car is a coach/baggage combination car built in the 1880’s, evidenced by the construction with square nails. This type of car usually ran on a short-line railroad as passengers could sit along the windows with their luggage and other baggage stored in the back section. The two-level roof lines with clerestory windows were commonly used until the 1920’s. These windows were often etched or had stained glass and were movable to provide ventilation. Plush rollover seats, a water cooler, oil lamps, and even restrooms were often furnished in similar cars. The wooden undercarriage probably supported 4-wheel trucks. (The current trucks are modern.)
The history of this car is not known. It was acquired by the Henry family in the 1950’s in Rockdale, Texas. It was without wheels, the IG&N lettering was still visibly embossed into the wooden sides, and many of the clerestory windows were missing. Those remaining had an etched pattern in the glass. Possibly at some time, the combine had been the property of the Rockdale, Sandow & Southern Railroad, a short-line railroad (approximately 7 miles long). Local legend had it that this car was only used for a workshop and storage. It is documented that the Rockdale, Sandow & Southern Railroad purchased a similar 1886 combination car in 1936 that they used until 1945. That car was then sold to 20th Century Fox to be used in movies from 1946-1972. For its movie career the car was relettered to be a “Pennsylvania Railroad” car. Film buffs may find it appearing in “Love Me Tender,” the “True Story of Jesse James,” “Centennial Summer,” “The Raid,” “The Second Time Around,” “Walls of Jericho,” and “Powderkeg.” It finally found a home at the San Diego Railroad Museum. That car looks quite similar to The McKinley Coach.
The International & Great Northern was active in Texas in 1901 during the same time period that the Houston and Texas Central Railroad built The Antlers Hotel. The IG & N had an ornate depot in downtown Austin at Congress and Third where twelve trains departed daily. On May 3, 1901—two days after the opening of The Antlers Hotel in Kingsland—President William McKinley arrived in Austin by train on the International & Great Northern Railway. Taking a note from history, we decided to name our IG & N combination car—The McKinley Coach.
The International & Great Northern combination car is a gift to The Antlers Hotel from the estate of E. E. Henry and Lillie T. Henry, Ann E. Henry, and E. David Henry.
ANTLERS STATION DEPOT HISTORY
Built in the 1880’s by The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway, this depot was originally located in Muldoon, Texas. Muldoon is on Farm Road 154 nine miles north of Flatonia in southwestern Fayette County. It is located on a grant of land originally made in 1831 to Father Michael Muldoon, who was the curate for Stephen F. Austin’s first Texas colony. The town was not platted until 1886 when the Waco branch of The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway extended its line between West Point and Flatonia.
The Muldoon Depot was built with square nails and was constructed in the traditional three-part depot floor plan, ticket office with waiting room, business office with bay window and raised back cargo area. Exterior walls are board-and-batten construction with wide eaves and decorative supports. Interior walls are beaded wood with pine flooring. The original ticket windows that can be raised and lowered remain intact as well as the two sliding cargo doors.
By the 1930’s, The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway was beginning to abandon some of their stations including Muldoon. The depot was sold and moved to the Kelly-Reitmer Ranch just outside Muldoon. It remained there until 1999 when The Antlers Hotel purchased it from Mr. Erin Kelly and moved it to the hotel grounds in Kingsland, Texas. Renovated by Anthony Mayfield and his crew, the Muldoon Depot has reemerged alongside the railroad tracks in Kingsland as The Antlers Station. Much of the original building remains and after serving as a gift shop, antique store and tourist attraction, it now serves as an accommodation that sleeps eight.
