Austin, Texas story
Jesse Driskill's Grand Victorian Gamble
Step inside Austin's oldest and grandest hotel, built in 1886 by wealthy cattle baron Jesse Driskill to bring high-society Victorian elegance to the Texas frontier.
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Step inside a historic palace built by a legendary cattle baron to civilize the Texas frontier. In 1885, a wealthy cattleman named Jesse Lincoln Driskill bought an entire Austin city block for 7,500 dollars. He envisioned a grand Romanesque hotel that would bring high-society Victorian elegance to the rugged streets of Austin.
He hired the architectural firm Jasper N. Preston & Son to design it. When it opened on December 20, 1886, it cost a reported 400,000 dollars—a staggering fortune at the time.
The Driskill quickly became the epicenter of late 19th-century political and social life, a monument to Texas cattle wealth. Today, it stands as Austin's oldest and grandest hotel, complete with a later annex. As you walk, imagine the rustle of silk gowns and the clinking of glasses from a time when a cattle baron bet his fortune on bringing luxury to the wild frontier.
Updated June 2026