A Showpiece
Cleburne, TX - When Cleburne businessman A.J. Wright opened the four-story Liberty Hotel in 1924, it was a luxurious stop along the Santa Fe Railway, which built a terminal nearby.
On opening day, a 42-piece band played in the ballroom, and the hotel was a hub of activity, with a barbershop and bus station, [Scott] Dudley said. The Liberty also boasted Cleburne’s first elevator.
There were 69 rooms, 13 of which had private baths, said Ron Lindsey, the Liberty’s manager. "There were telephones in each room, but people could only call between rooms because most homes didn’t have phones," he said.
...But by the late 1930s, the hotel went into a steep decline, first brought on by a yearlong strike by Santa Fe Railway workers.
Then, as in other small towns, railroad passenger traffic dried up after the interstate highways were built. The Liberty fell into disrepair...
Rebirth
In 2004, the Dudleys began the monumental task of renovating the building.
They left the brick facade largely untouched, but inside it was a different story. They took down the interior walls to the studs; new flooring was installed and the terrazzo floor in the lobby was restored, eventually bringing it back to its former grandeur.
"It would have been easier to bulldoze it, but my father wanted to keep the original look," Scott Dudley said.
