Fort Davis ยท Courthouse square
Hotel Limpia
A 1913 stone hotel on the Fort Davis courthouse square, built for 'Summer Swallows' escaping the heat; Harvard astronomers later leased space here.
- Built
- 1913NRHP nomination dates the hotel to 1913 (additions c. 1920 and 1925); the hotel and THC marker say 1912. Built by the Union Trading Company; apartments and Harvard astronomy offices after a 1953 lobby fire; hotel again from 1978.
- Architect
- John Bauce (stonework); G. W. Campbell and F. P. Sproul (carpentry)
- Type
- Inn
- Rooms
- 30
- Area
- Courthouse square
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The story
The Union Trading Company built the two-story stone hotel on the courthouse square, named for nearby Limpia Creek, to serve ‘Summer Swallows’, well-off Texans escaping the heat in the mile-high Davis Mountains. With a doctor’s office, drugstore and porches, it became a community social center. After a 1953 fire destroyed the lobby, J. C. Duncan converted it to apartments and offices, leasing space to Harvard University’s astronomers for nearly 25 years, and it was re-established as a hotel in 1978.
Good to know
- No elevator
- Pets welcome
- Address: 101 Memorial Square, Fort Davis, TX 79734
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.