Austin's 1886 Political Landmark and Its Lingering Colonel
604 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701
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. It's worth noting up front: 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
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.
Dining in the lobby level of Austin's 1886 landmark hotel, beneath the arched ironwork and stonework of Colonel Jesse Lincoln Driskill's original vision. The Driskill Bar is one of Austin's most storied drinking establishments and shares space with the lobby where Colonel Driskill's figure is most frequently reported.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Austin, TX
The Driskill opened on December 20, 1886, in downtown Austin as the grandest hotel in central Texas. Colonel Jesse Lincoln Driskill, a Tennessee-born cattle baron who had supplied beef to the Confederate Army and Texas Rangers, financed the construction. A harsh winter and drought devastated his herds and forced him to sell the hotel in 1888; he died in 1890.
New Braunfels, TX
The Faust Hotel opened in 1929 as the Travelers Hotel, built by businessman Walter Faust in New Braunfels's downtown German-heritage district. It was renamed the Faust Hotel after Walter's death in 1933. The four-story brick boutique reopened in spring 2026 after renovations reduced the room count from 64 to 45 and added new dining concepts.
Galveston, TX
Grand Galvez, originally Hotel Galvez, opened in 1911 as part of Galveston's recovery from the catastrophic 1900 hurricane. The Spanish Colonial Revival landmark on Seawall Boulevard is the only historic beachfront hotel on the Texas Gulf Coast and now operates as part of Marriott's Autograph Collection.