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Austin's 1886 Political Landmark and Its Lingering Colonel
604 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701
Research updated October 2026
Age
All ages
Cost
$$$
Room rates approximately $280–$600/night. 189 guestrooms and suites ranging 400–1,230 sq ft. Managed by Hyatt.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown Austin hotel with elevator access. Historic building with some original-era staircases.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1886 · National Register of Historic Places · Texas Political History · LBJ History · Romanesque Revival Architecture
Jesse Lincoln Driskill was born in 1824 in Tennessee. He drove cattle through the Civil War, supplying beef to the Confederate Army, and continued in the cattle trade after the conflict. By the 1870s, he had relocated his family to Austin, operating one of the largest cattle operations in Texas.
In 1884, Driskill purchased a city block at the corner of Brazos and Pecan Streets for $7,500. The hotel that opened on December 20, 1886 was one of the finest in Texas — ornate Romanesque Revival stonework, a rotunda lobby, carved cattle motifs above the entrance arches. Less than two weeks after opening, the hotel hosted its first inaugural ball for Texas Governor Sul Ross. The tradition has continued, with every subsequent governor's inaugural celebration held at the Driskill.
Driskill's timing proved catastrophic. A severe winter and prolonged drought devastated his cattle herds in 1887 and 1888, and he was forced to sell the hotel in 1888. He died in 1890, never having recovered his fortune.
The hotel passed through multiple ownerships over the following decades, surviving changes in Austin's urban landscape. Lyndon B. Johnson held election night watch parties at the Driskill; he and Lady Bird Johnson had their first date in the hotel's lobby restaurant in 1934. The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today the property is managed by Hyatt and operates as a full-service downtown hotel with 189 rooms and suites, including named suites honoring its Texas political history.
Sources
Colonel Driskill is the hotel's most frequently cited presence. Staff arriving before opening hours have reported the scent of cigar smoke in the lobby and bar — a detail that recurs across multiple independent worker accounts. Guests have described a gentlemanly figure in 19th-century attire near the lobby, and several accounts include a sensation of heavy presence on the grand staircase.
The staircase child — known in Austin ghost-tour lore as 'Samantha Houston,' the four-year-old (or seven-year-old, depending on the teller) daughter of a Texas senator who fell while chasing a ball during an 1887 Senate session held at the hotel — is the Driskill's signature legend. Historians have never been able to verify this story, and no senator's daughter named Samantha Houston has been documented. What guests do consistently report is children's laughter and the sound of a bouncing ball on the staircase during overnight hours, often when no children are registered. A fifth-floor portrait of a young girl holding flowers has become the focal point of the legend.
The fourth floor is described by multiple sources as the most concentrated area of activity, though specific accounts vary in detail. Room 525 appears in several independent guest reports as generating the strongest sensations of presence.
Austin Ghost Tours and Ghost City Tours include the Driskill in their routes. The hotel's central role in Texas political history — LBJ and Lady Bird's first date in the dining room in 1934, every Texas governor's inaugural ball since 1887, election night gatherings — gives the building a layer of documented human drama that stands independent of the paranormal accounts.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
189 rooms and suites in Austin's first luxury hotel, opened December 20, 1886 — including the Cattle Baron suite, the LBJ suite, and the 1886 Suites. The grand staircase is the most documented site of paranormal reports, associated with the death of a child in the late 19th century. Staff in the lobby and bar report the scent of cigar smoke associated with Colonel Driskill himself. Managed by Hyatt.
Dine at The Driskill Grill, a classic American steakhouse in the hotel. The Driskill Grill is a classic American steakhouse serving lunch and dinner.
Stay overnight at the Driskill, Austin's oldest operating hotel. The fifth-floor rooms and the bridal suite are most commonly associated with reported activity. Hotel staff maintain a written log of guest encounters.
Visit the Driskill Bar. The lobby and Driskill Bar are publicly accessible and are the most commonly cited locations for reports of Colonel Driskill's cigar smoke.
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