Flashback : Dallas

“First-class style…”

by Paula Bosse

I’ve seen SO MANY postcards of Dallas through the years that when I come across one that is completely new to me, it’s pretty exciting. Especially turn-of-the-century-ish cards, like the one above. This is the first I’ve ever heard of the Rodessia Hotel, which opened in Oct. 1904 at 361-363 Elm (the address later became 1601½ Elm). The hotel proprietor (as well as the proprietor of the street-level saloon underneath it) was German immigrant Joseph F. Rode (1858-1911).

Dallas Morning News, Oct. 2, 1904

And, because it’s so unusual to be able to note something like this, I must mention that Rode’s wife, Victoria Virginia “Nannie” Rode, was also a business owner.

DMN, Oct. 7, 1894

Even though I hadn’t heard of the hotel, I did know about the building. In fact, I wrote a whole post about it: “S. Mayer’s Summer Garden, Est. 1881.” It would have been a building everyone knew at the turn of the century. Here’s what it looked like when it was a young whippersnapper:

It was built in 1881 by Simon Mayer and was the site for many years of his very popular beer garden. Around 1902 it became the Clifton Hotel, and in Oct. 1904, J. F. Rode opened his interestingly named Rodessia Hotel, which remained in business until about 1920 (it was run after his death by the Widow Nannie and her second husband). Around 1920, another hotel — the La France — opened. See the building at various times in the post mentioned above, here.

So. The Rodessia was in business for at least 15 years. I still can’t believe I haven’t seen it pop up in at least one Elm Street postcard or photograph until now. Better late than never!

(Note: In the postcard at the top, just to the right of the hotel, is the David Hardie Seed Co., which I believe continues today as Nicholson-Hardie stores.)

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Sources & Notes

Postcard from eBay.

Photo of Mayer’s Garden from the Dallas Public Library: “[Mayer’s Beer Garden, Dallas, Texas”], Call Number PA87-1/19-27-1.

This post originally appeared in a shorter version on the Flashback Dallas Patreon page, which I enthusiastically invite you to subscribe to!

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