Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Short history of the old Cottonwood Inn of Austin, Texas explored.

Cottonwood Inn is one of the many forgotten inns and hotels of Austin, Texas which has some history behind it. Most Oak Hillians (Oak Hill residents) know about Cottonwood Inn. Cottonwood Inn was an inn located in the Oak Hill neighborhood of Austin, Texas. Not too much history can be found out about Cottonwood Inn though.

Miz Monroe had been running the Circleville Inn during late 1940s and when the lease came up the owners of the property refused to renew the lease. This got her mad. So she decided to purchase land and opened the Cottonwood Inn inside of two merged single story rectangular buildings which were surplus army barracks. (Ref: https://oakhillgazette.com/history/2012/03/oak-hill-yesteryear-honky-tonks-and-juke-joints/)

Cottonwood Inn was in competition with Circleville Inn as a business. They were rivals in a sense due to being close in proximity. Cottonwood Inn had a rough reputation. Both inns were considered to be dangerous due to the crowds they brought in. Heating was provided by a fireplace. Cottonwood Inn was a beer joint that had a jukebox too. (Ref: https://donnamariemillerblog.com/2014/02/22/oak-hills-old-timers-tell-tales-about-the-good-ol-days/)

A fire occurred inside the building in the middle of 1970. Nearly the whole building burned down. The Cottonwood Inn closed after the first fire. Cottonwood Inn would not reopen until 1972. The buildings of Cottonwood Inn have been through remodeling and has had several modifications.
Cottonwood Inn has been modified several times.
The Cottonwood Inn was later sold to Alberta Curd And John Curd. Alberta Curd And John Curd operated a store called Jot Em Down Grocery which was housed in the old Cottonwood Inn. This store operated for more than 20 years before closing.

Today the Cottonwood Inn is abandoned and up for sale. All windows and doors have been sealed shut with plywood. The building has been since repaint with a coating of white paint.
Screenshot of Cottonwood Inn from 2015.

Cottonwood Inn was located at 9925 Circle Drive, Austin, Texas, US 78736.

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