Ten Stories of Shadows at Dallas's Oldest Downtown Hotel
302 S Houston St, Dallas, TX 75202
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Hotel room rates vary by season; check IHG website for current pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved, urban hotel
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1925 · Prohibition Era · Downtown Dallas History · C.D. Hill Architecture · Union Station District
The building at 302 South Houston Street has stood at the edge of Dallas's central business district for a century. Opened in October 1925 as the Scott Hotel by hotelier George C. Scott, its positioning directly across from Union Station made it a natural stop for rail travelers during an era when downtown Dallas was a destination rather than a commute.
The hotel's ten stories in Commercial Style brick became a fixture of the Dallas skyline, and the property passed through multiple ownership groups over the decades. By the late 1930s it had taken on the name Hotel Lawrence, under which it would acquire its most colorful reputation. During Prohibition and the decades that followed, the second floor housed an illegal casino operation, drawing the gambling trade that flourished in Dallas despite — or because of — periodic law enforcement attention.
The hotel changed hands and names multiple times through the mid-20th century, enduring periods of decline common to downtown hotel districts as suburban development drew the hospitality trade outward. A $4 million renovation in 2001 attempted to restore some of its original character. The property was subsequently acquired by La Quinta Inn & Suites, then rebranded as the Holiday Inn Express Dallas Downtown under the IHG flag, which operates the 120-room property today.
The 10th floor carries the darkest chapter of the building's record. A woman fell or jumped from a window on that floor in the 1940s. A congressman who lived on the 10th floor took his own life there; the circumstances were not widely publicized at the time, a common outcome for such events in the mid-20th century. The most-documented incidents involve room 1009 specifically, where gangster Jack 'Smiley' Jackson was murdered during the 1930s — the decade when the hotel's second-floor casino drew figures from Dallas's underworld. A separate incident in the same room involved a man named Brookshire, found with his throat cut.
The hotel sits within walking distance of Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum, placing it in one of the most historically dense blocks in Texas.
Sources
The front desk receives calls from three rooms on a regular basis. The rooms are unoccupied. This detail comes from hotel staff, not from guests — the people who work the building daily and have no particular interest in promoting its paranormal reputation.
Room 1009 is the specific focus. Two men died violently in that room. Jack 'Smiley' Jackson, a gangster connected to Dallas's Prohibition-era underworld, was murdered there in the 1930s. Years later, a second man was found in the same room with his throat cut. Staff members describe trying to open the door and feeling pressure from the other side, as though someone is pushing back. The reported workaround: address Smiley by name and ask politely to enter.
The 10th floor more broadly has a catalog of reports. Cold spots appear suddenly and dissipate. Crying sounds come from the hallway without an identifiable source. A woman fell or jumped from a 10th-floor window sometime in the 1940s — the exact circumstances were never definitively established. A congressman who lived on the floor took his own life there; the name and session were not publicized at the time.
The basement has its own account. Laundry carts have been observed by staff moving on their own. The lobby contributes a different kind of report: high-heeled footsteps crossing the floor between midnight and 6 a.m., with no one visible making them. Cleaning staff have noted that their materials disappear during shifts.
The casino that operated on the second floor in the late 1920s and 1930s — a gambling operation during an era when such venues were common targets for violence — may explain the general character of the 10th floor's history. Many of the people doing business in that hotel during its peak years were not there for the proximity to Union Station.
Notable Entities
Book a room at what is now the Holiday Inn Express Dallas Downtown — still housed in the original 1925 ten-story brick structure. The 10th floor is the most reported area of activity. Guests have described door resistance, unexplained cold spots, and late-night calls originating from unoccupied rooms.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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