Abilene's 1909 Prairie-Style hotel now an art museum, where the third floor, ballroom, and basement produce footsteps and self-opening doors that staff can't explain.
102 Cypress St, Abilene, TX 79601
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Adults $8; Children 4–17, Seniors, Students, Retired Military $5; under 3 free. Thursday evenings 5–8 PM free.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Elevator-served historic building; flat indoor gallery space
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1909 · Prairie-Style Architecture · Railroad Era Landmark · National Register of Historic Places · West Texas Cultural Institution
Colonel W.L. Beckham of Greenville, Texas constructed the Hotel Grace in 1909 at the corner of Cypress Street and North First Street, directly across from the Texas and Pacific Railroad Depot. The building was designed in Prairie Style and initially stood three stories; a fourth floor with a rooftop dance hall was added in 1924. Proximity to the railroad depot made the Grace the default destination for travelers passing through West Texas during the region's oil and cattle boom years.
By 1946 the hotel had changed hands and was operating as the Drake Hotel. Passenger rail traffic declined steadily through the postwar decades, and the building ceased hotel operations in 1973. During the 1980s it sat largely vacant, inhabited at various points by rats and squatters, until the Abilene Preservation League and the Abilene Fine Arts Museum formed a partnership to restore it.
Following major renovation work, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Museums of Abilene opened in 1992; the institution was renamed The Grace Museum in 1998. Today it houses art galleries, a research library, permanent history exhibits on West Texas and multicultural heritage, and the Spark children's gallery. Annual attendance runs approximately 60,000 visitors.
Sources
The Southwest Ghost Hunters Association conducted an investigation at the Grace Museum and documented activity that staff described as centered on the upper floors and the basement — the same areas that saw the heaviest guest traffic during the hotel's six-decade run. Visitors have reported doors opening and closing without apparent cause, footsteps echoing in empty hallways, and disembodied voices described specifically as women's voices audible in corridors when no one is present.
The building's hotel years provide the obvious context: the Grace operated as lodging from 1909 through 1973. The rooftop ballroom added in 1924 hosted dances during the region's oil boom. The basement, which predates the 1980s restoration, is consistently named in accounts from visitors who report a pronounced unease at lower levels. No specific historical incidents have been formally linked to the activity by the museum itself.
Five floors of art and history in the restored 1909 Hotel Grace. Permanent history exhibits trace West Texas development; galleries include a children's interactive space called Spark. The third and fourth floors, the ballroom, and the basement are the areas with the most reported anomalous activity.
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