Amarillo's tallest building when it opened in 1927, this 14-story oil-boom Art Deco hotel has stood vacant since 1978 — and local accounts describe unexplained activity inside its sealed floors.
311 SE 3rd Ave, Amarillo, TX 79101
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Exterior viewable from public streets. Interior access is not currently available to the public; restoration to a luxury hotel is planned for 2029.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown urban sidewalk; exterior only accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1927 · National Register of Historic Places (January 2024) · Art Deco architecture by Shepard and Wiser · Tallest building in Amarillo at opening · Old Tascosa Room featuring H. D. Bugbee murals · Built during Panhandle oil boom
Cornelius Taylor Herring was born in 1849 and came to Amarillo as the Panhandle's cattle and oil industries were expanding. He built the hotel as a venue for the business transactions that accompanied the oil boom, completing the 14-story Art Deco structure designed by the firm of Shepard and Wiser in 1927 after two years of construction at a cost of approximately $1 million — a figure that represents roughly $14 million in 2025 dollars.
At its opening, the Herring was the tallest building in Amarillo, one of three major structures built during the Panhandle's oil-boom period. The hotel's most notable interior feature was the Old Tascosa Room in the basement — a space paneled in reclaimed pine from the old West Texas town of Tascosa with murals painted by local artist H. D. Bugbee, who became one of the most recognized Western illustrators of the 20th century. The mezzanine level was considered architecturally impressive even by later standards.
Herring died in 1931, and the hotel continued to serve Amarillo's business community through the middle decades of the century before closing in 1966. The building was converted to government office space and subsequently passed to private ownership; Robert Goodrich has owned the property since 1988. The Herring has been vacant since 1978 — its boarded windows visible from the Amarillo Police Department building next door.
In January 2024, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In November 2025, plans were announced to restore the Herring as a luxury hotel, with a target opening year of 2029.
Sources
The Herring Hotel's haunted reputation in Amarillo is informal and decades-old. Local media and residents cite it alongside St. Anthony's Hospital and the Ranchotel as one of the city's genuinely haunted locations. The Old Tascosa Room in the basement — sealed since the building went vacant in 1978 — carries a particular reputation, likely because of its distinctive history as a purpose-built gathering space for the oil-boom era's dealmakers and the murals that have deteriorated in sealed darkness since.
Mix 94.1 and related Amarillo radio properties have published video content from the building with reports of unexplained voices documented during access visits. Visitors who participated in occasional tours arranged through the building's preservation Facebook page describe eerie encounters and what they characterize as disembodied voices on upper floors. The building's proximity to the Amarillo Police Department means unauthorized access is effectively deterred, and the reports come from coordinated access visits rather than trespass.
No specific named individuals are associated with the paranormal accounts, and no documented deaths within the hotel have been connected to the reported activity in available sources. The building's 48-year vacancy, oil-boom social history, and pending restoration have sustained interest in its paranormal reputation among Amarillo residents and ghost-hunting visitors.
The Herring Hotel's 14-story Art Deco brick tower is visible from SE 3rd Avenue in downtown Amarillo. The Amarillo Police Department is adjacent to the building, and interior access is not open to the public.
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