Magnolia Hotel (Dallas, Texas)

Magnolia Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Dallas Landmark
The front façade of the Magnolia Building, now the Magnolia Hotel
Location:	1315 Commerce Street Dallas, Texas
Coordinates:	32°46′48.43″N 96°47′56.97″W / 32.7801194°N 96.7991583°W / 32.7801194; -96.7991583Coordinates: 32°46′48.43″N 96°47′56.97″W / 32.7801194°N 96.7991583°W / 32.7801194; -96.7991583
Built:	1921
Architect:	Alfred Bossom; Lang & Witchell
Architectural style:	Beaux-Arts, Renaissance Revival
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	78002915[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	January 30, 1978
Designated RTHL:	1978

The Magnolia Hotel (sometimes still called the Magnolia Building, originally the Magnolia Petroleum Building) is a 29-story, Beaux-Arts style, upscale hotel in the Main Street District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA) that for many years was the tallest building in the state of Texas. The structure is a Dallas Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

The building, which opened next door to the Adolphus Hotel in August 1922^[2] at a cost of US$4 million, was originally the headquarters for the Magnolia Petroleum Company. In 1934, the company erected its trademark neon Pegasus on the building's roof (the Pegasus logo later became the logo of Mobil Oil who merged with Magnolia Petroleum in 1959) to celebrate the American Petroleum Institute's annual meeting, held in Dallas for the first time. The rotating winged horse came to represent the city of Dallas and became one of its most recognizable and endearing landmarks, even after the building became obscured by much larger skyscrapers (the neon Pegasus can now only be seen in the downtown skyline approaching from the south).

By 1974, however, Pegasus stopped rotating due to mechanical problems and in 1977, the Mobil Oil Company moved their headquarters out of the aging building and the property was sold to the city of Dallas. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The building was purchased by Denver, Colorado developers in 1997 and was converted into the luxury 330-room Magnolia Hotel.

In 1999, in preparation for Dallas's Millennium Celebration, Pegasus was taken down to be completely restored. However, the sign was beyond repair and a new sign was recreated from scratch. At midnight on 1 January 2000, the new Pegasus, complete with rotation, was lit for the first time. A copy of the original sign, which sat atop a Mobil Oil station in the Casa Linda neighborhood of Dallas for many decades, is now on display at the Old Red Museum.

Gallery

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  Elevator lobby in the Magnolia Building

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  Pegasus elevator medallion

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  Photo of the roof in which the red pegasus is placed

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-12-22. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ Dallassky.com - Magnolia Building. Retrieved 24 August 2006.

See also

• List of buildings and structures in Dallas, Texas
• Magnolia Station Lofts

External links

• Magnolia Hotels, the company that owns and operates the Dallas Magnolia
• Dallas City Hall's page on the Magnolia Building
• Restoration of the Pegasus sign
• Architectural facts
• The official Magnolia Hotel Dallas Website

Preceded by Adolphus Hotel	Tallest Building in Dallas 1923—1942 121.63 m	Succeeded by Mercantile National Bank Building
Preceded by Adolphus Hotel	Tallest Building in Texas 1923—1927 121.63 m	Succeeded by Niels Esperson Building