The Majestic Hotel/The Park Hotel/The Ambassador Hotel: R.I.P. — 1904-2019
by Paula Bosse
by Paula Bosse
The historic Ambassador Hotel at 1312 S. Ervay in the Cedars was destroyed by fire this morning — the building was 115 years old and was under renovation. Watching news footage of flames engulfing the South Dallas landmark is heart-wrenching.
Built in 1904 alongside City Park, the Majestic Apartment Hotel opened in early 1905. It was designed by popular local architect Earle Henri (E. H.) Silven (who, incidentally, was arrested on suspicion of setting fire to the then-historic Knepfly Building in 1906, a fire which resulted in two deaths, but a grand jury declined to prosecute because of insufficient evidence — I actually wrote about this fire in passing a few years ago in a completely unrelated post).
The Majestic was originally an “apartment hotel” which was more apartment house than hotel, intended for long-term residents. Financial backing of this endeavor was shaky, and the Majestic soon fell into receivership; after a change of owners, the newly renamed Park Hotel opened in 1907. Several years later, in 1933, it became the Ambassador Hotel. Over the 115-year life of the building, these various incarnations came with a dizzying number of owners and operators, and news of its impending renovation and rebirth was heard frequently over the past 20 or 30 years. Recent plans, though, seemed like they were actually going to finally happen. …And now, unfortunately, they won’t.
Below are several images of the hotel, beginning back when Dallasites were still using a horse and buggy to get around. (All images are larger when clicked.)
Majestic Apartment House, Dallas Morning News, Jan. 1, 1905
Majestic Hotel, 1905 Dallas directory (ad, detail)
Majestic Hotel, 1905 (via DeGolyer Library, SMU)
I’m not sure which iteration of the hotel is seen in this postcard, but here it is viewed from City Park, with the Confederate Monument in the foreground:
(via DeGolyer Library, SMU)
The Park Hotel opened in September, 1907.
Park Hotel, August 11, 1907
Park Hotel, Oct. 1, 1907
One of my favorite views of the hotel is the one immediately below, taken from City Park, with the Hughes Candy factory at the left (the original photo is here):
In 1933 the hotel got a new stucco exterior and tile roof and was renamed the Ambassador.
(via DeGolyer Library, SMU)
For a while the hotel served as a retirement community — here is an odd, incredibly wordy ad, beckoning retirees with prospects of late-life romance, while also sharing (somewhat) accurate local history:
Ambassador Retirement Hotel ad, Jan. 30, 1972
ca. 1982
This morning:
Dallas Fire Rescue, via Twitter
*
For old time’s sake, a Google Street View from 2018 (here) and from 2021 (here):
2018
2021
***
Sources & Notes
Top image from the Portal to Texas History.
Read a comprehensive history of the building in an article by Harvey J. Graff in Historic Dallas here and here.
Read the City of Dallas Designation Report from 1982 seeking Landmark Status here.
Read the 2018 application for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (with MANY pages of photos) here.
Coverage of today’s fire can be found on the NBC-DFW site here; a 2017 video walk-through of the Ambassador in happier, more optimistic times can also be found on the Channel 5 site, here.
*
Copyright © 2019 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Flashback : Dallas 
So sad. I cried.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Did the fire damage any Dallas Heritage Village (Old City Park)?
LikeLike
No.the DFD kept it hosed down. A building nearby outside DHV caught fire on the roof but Firemen quelled it.
LikeLike
Here’s a blog post from the DHV about the fire: https://dallasheritagevillage.worldsecuresystems.com/blog/mourning-the-loss-of-the-ambassador-hotel
LikeLike
So sad! My great grandmother moved their when she sold her home (widowed) in the mid 50’s, but it was already becoming decrepit, so she took a two bedroom suite overlooking Lake Cliff at the then posh Cliff Towers! Remember going to spend the weekend with her as a child and swimming n their 2nd floor outdoor pool! At least Cliff Towers has remained – sorry for the Ambassador!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Is there a way I can get a printed copy of this article? My grandfather was Charles R. Tips, the owner of the Ambassador when it was a retirement hotel. My family was still emotionally attached to the hotel and would love the information.
Also, do you happen to know what company is clearing the land? I would like to recover some souvenirs.
Thanks for your help,
LikeLike
I’ve never actually tried to print one of the posts from this blog, but you might try the “print” option under “File” (if you’re on a PC), or try the printer option at the end of the post, below the copyright line (click on the printer icon). My guess is that the formatting — the appearance — will be screwed up. According to a comment by the company on my Instagram account, the Billy L. Nabors Demolition company is the one clearing the land.
LikeLike
Thanks. I have tried to print some of the article and the formatting does get messed up.
I’ll keep trying.
I appreciate the information.
LikeLike
Send your email to me at FlashbackDallas214@gmail.com and I’ll see if I can send you a PDF.
LikeLike
[…] The 115-year-old Ambassador Hotel burned down in May — I wrote a post which contained a lot of old postcards of the building in its various incarnations, and this postcard from its time as the Park Hotel is my favorite, with the Hughes Brothers building on the left, the hotel in the center, and City Park on the right. From the post “The Majestic Hotel/The Park Hotel/The Ambassador Hotel: R.I.P. — 1904-2019.” […]
LikeLike
[…] “THE MAJESTIC HOTEL / THE PARK HOTEL / THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL: R.I.P. — 1904-2019” […]
LikeLike
[…] Read about the history of the Ambassador Hotel in the Flashback Dallas post “The Majestic Hotel/The Park Hotel/The Ambassador Hotel: R.I.P — 1904-2019.” […]
LikeLike
Found a “brass key tag” buried in the in the back yard of my grandmother’s house 100 miles south of Dallas in a small town called Tehuacana. It’s . . . .from the Majestic Hotel/Dallas.
Room 313.
My birthday in 1954.
Enjoyed the historical memories and notes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I love Tehuacana.
LikeLike
So sad. Neither the 1933 stucco face-lift nor the 1972 ‘exciting red carpet’ could protect this old lady.
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] building in the next block was the Columbian Club. The hotel most recently known as the Ambassador (which is still standing) in set back on a curve of the street and is hidden by the Columbian Club. The red building is the […]
LikeLike
[…] PARK HOTEL, 1312 S. Ervay. Known in recent years as the Ambassador Hotel (which burned down in 2019) (is anything going to be built on that land?), the Park Hotel, on the […]
LikeLike