The Hotel Garza stands as a reminder of the early days of Post City, Texas. Pioneers were arriving by covered wagon, rail, and car with nothing more than the desire to settle in Post City. Cereal magnate C.W. Post was selling farms and houses with affordable payments, something more people could not get elsewhere.
Two of those early Pioneers were Jefferson D. Hume and his wife Annie Bell, from Fulton, Missouri. J.D. Hume hauled Freight from Snyder to Post by mule teams, a hard and rough business.
Mrs. Hume gave birth to the first child born in Post City, a girl, and they named her Post Toastie Hume and called her "Postie." She passed away at the age of seven. The Humes would have four more children; Edna, David, Helen, and Mack.
Jimmy Napier, a Scottish stonemason, came to Post in 1907 and along with George Samson built many of the early buildings and homes for C.W. Post. Mrs. Hume's desire was to build a boarding house, a place where she could feed and house the bachelors and others who had no more than a tent for a home. Mr. Hume agreed to have one built.
C.W. Post's Double U Company was the main builder at the time and was well aware of the housing shortage. They already had an architect, Mr. Gilmore on payroll who was assigned to the project, along with Jimmy Napier and Scotty Samson as masons and J.D. Hume as the financier. Construction began in 1915 and the building was completed in 1916. Before the building was ever completed, C.R. Brown leased the top floor for the purpose of a boarding house. A portion of the bottom floor on the east side was leased to partners J.O. Blair and J.L. Watson for a variety store. The United States Post Office leased half of the bottom floor and remained there until 1935.
Following Mr. Hume's death, W.E. Porterfield gained possession of the building and named it the "Whitehouse Hotel." The variety store was turned into a seamstress shop run by his daughter, Clara Porterfield, an accomplished seamstress who is quite popular with the local residents. After her father's death, Clara ran both businesses until about 1926. The same year, the Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company leased a portion of the ground floor with the upstairs still used as a hotel and boarding house. M.J. Malocif leased the lower east side of the building and began his dry goods store, a booming business until his untimely death. Mr. Malocif's son then closed the store and moved it to Southland.
During the 1930's Porterfield opened an embroidery shop, the Post Office began looking for a new location, and the hotel was fast becoming rundown and neglected.
Thomas W. Hagood took possession of the building in 1947 and changed the name to the "Hotel Garza." The hotel evidently ceased operating as a boarding house, as they no longer served food at that time and there were only two bathrooms upstairs for the renters to use.
By 1961 Buren Mathews had purchased the hotel from Pauline Hagood, and once again changed the name to "Matt's Hotel." Most of Matt's renters were long-term. Over the next thirty years, the hotel became very rundown, desperately needing some remodeling. When Matt became terminally ill and passed away, the property was put up for sale.
In 1991, Jim and Janice Plummer purchased the hotel from Buren Mathews, made renovations, and renamed the hotel to its former name "The Hotel Garza." The Plumbers operated the hotel as a bed and breakfast for 17 years.
In 2008, Ian and Ruth Torrens purchased The Hotel Garza. Ian Torrens had just moved to America from Northern Ireland after recently being married to Ruth, and the newly married couple purchased the bed and breakfast. Since 2008 all rooms have been renovated while maintaining the charm of this historic building, and the hotel serves as a bed and breakfast today.
