 ALICE HOTEL The
Alice hotel was built in 1909 by Capt. William S. Grant, Captain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, who also owned
lots in Pottsboro; on one was a grocery store and on the other a
blacksmith shop. Capt. Grant married a second time to Alice Julia Helvey, cousin of his first wife. The two-story Alice Hotel was located north of the depot on the east side of the street. The Grants made their home in the hotel.. The marriage between Capt. Grant and Alice did not work out. Once his health began to fail, he returned to his farm and lived with his nephew, James Homer and Maye Taylor, until his death in December 1914. Prior to his death, Capt. Grant sold his farm northwest of Pottsboro to Bill Cantrell. He also deeded 80 acres of the W.A. Watkins survey, 11 acres of the James Ingram survey and the two town lots to James Homer Taylor. He gave the north 80 acres of the W.A. Watkins survey and the Alice Hotel to his wife; she kept the property until her death, upon which it became the property of her son, Loy Helvey, of Howe, Texas. Loy sold the 2-story hotel to Bill Wilson about 1933. In 1937 Mr. J.L. Wilson tore the hotel down and used the lumber to build a house on the Wilson farm, 2 miles southwest of Pottsboro. However, Loy kept the 80 acres until his death, when it passed to his only child, Wanda Helvey. In 1922 a fire destroyed most of the buildings on the west side of the business district in Pottsboro, including the grocery store & blacksmith shop owned by James Homer Taylor; He later sold these two lots to Isaac Clements of Pottsboro and E.P. Crowder of Georgetown; part of the trade to Mr. Crowder included a Model T Ford. James Home and Maye Taylor continued to live in the Grant home until James' death in 1949; Maye continued to live in the house until she suffered a stroke in 1967, when she moved to Dalhart, Texas to live with her daughter, Julia Guilloud. Maye died at Dalhart in 1969 and the farm passed to her daughters, Ruth Waldrop and Julia Guilloud. Ruth died 8 years laterand her half of the estate became the possession of her five children - James D. Waldrop, George A. Waldrop, John T. Waldrop, Janell Martin and JoAnn Stanberry. In May 1980 Julia sold her surface interest to the Grant land to her niece and husband, JoAnn and Lonnie Stanberry; the farm having been in the family since 1866 was then occupied by Capt. William S. Grant's great-great-niece, JoAnn and husband. Sources: Interview with James Homer Taylor Grayson County, Texas census 1835 - 1969 Biographical Souvenier of Texas Illustrated History of Grayson County, Texas Family Bible of William and Julia Grant Sherman Daily Democrat, Tuesday, December 1, 1987, pg.A10 Stories by Julia Taylor Grant  Pottsboro History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |