our view: GLAMPING COLUMN
Come Glamp With Me -
The Best Is Yet To Come
Finding History and Mystery At
Jefferson/Caddo Lake the Mississippi delta, and on our last
BY MARK BROWN
PHOTOS BY TOM HADLEY,
PATHFINDER PHOTOGRAPHY
F
rom Parker County, we’ve found
that we can travel a scant 200
miles in almost any direction and
discover something fascinating, no
matter which direction we go.
One of the best is less than four
hours east. It’s Caddo Lake, and the
neighboring hamlet of Jefferson that
rests on the banks of Little Cypress
Creek. The oddly historic city was at
one time a thriving shipping point,
used mostly to ship cotton from Texas
to New Orleans.
Jefferson’s history is a big part of
the draw of the tiny Texas town. It
looks and feels a bit like a miniature
New Orleans. Historical buildings are
scattered all across the town, stories
of the halcyon days when cotton
came up and down the river from
visit, we managed to catch a play
depicting the murder of “Diamond
Bessie” Moore and the national
scandal, and subsequent trial, of her
accused murderer.
But spending time among the
cypress trees and Spanish moss at
mysterious Caddo Lake in itself is
worth the trip. It’s been the setting for
scores of movies.
There are about 25 bed and
breakfasts in historic Jefferson, along
with three locally owned and oper-
ated hotels and a chain motel, but
reservations are still recommended.
Oldest among them, the historic
Excelsior Hotel, has been greeting
weary travelers since before the Civil
War. Among the rich and famous
who have stayed here are former
presidents Ulysses S. Grant and
Rutherford B. Hayes, former first lady
Lady Bird Johnson and writer Oscar
Wilde.
One story, unsubstantiated by the
hotel, says Stephen Spielberg, scout-
ing film locations at Caddo Lake, was
visited by a spirit in the night, which
caused him to gather his contingent
and hastily leave the hotel in the
middle of the night.
But it’s not ALL about ghosts.
Besides the well-appointed inte-
rior and immaculately manicured
grounds, the hotel boasts its famous
orange blossom muffins daily at
breakfast.
Slightly more than a block over is
the Jefferson Hotel. Formerly a ware-
house used by shippers on the Big
Cypress River, the hotel is famous for
its regular other-worldly visits. The
sounds of children laughing, when
none are around; fingerprints appear-
ing on just-cleaned window panes;
other “bump-in-the-night” reports
keep visitors flocking to the hotel.
“The busiest ghost rooms are
rooms 14, 15 and 19,” said a former
hotel employee. “For some reason,
ghost hunters say room 19 is a portal
to the other side.”
Ghosts aside, the hotel is cozy,
comfortable and, for a tourist destina-
tion, relatively inexpensive.
A hint for travelers, get a room
as far from the stairs as possible. It’s
an old wooden building and each
trip up or down the stairs is loudly
announced by creaks of old lumber.
(Or is it ghosts?)
If historic investigation and a
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