The Slaton Harvey House in southeastern Lubbock County is now officially the Texas Historical Commission’s 40th State Historic Site, expanding the state-supported program even more firmly and permanently in West Texas.
Built in 1912, this two-story structure served as one of hospitality leader Fred Harvey’s iconic“eating houses”along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway for over 30 years. Saved from demolition over the past two decades through the efforts of local preservationists, it now stands as a living museum, events venue, and bed & breakfast.
Volunteers Cynthia Jones and Peter Laverty spent about two years providing documentation and making the case to the Texas Historical Commission.
As one of only six remaining Harvey Houses in Texas (and the only one where visitors can stay overnight), this site preserves aspects of our state’s history, including the impact of railroads, women’s roles in early 20th-century society, and business innovation during a transformative era.
In 1989, after standing empty for years, Slaton’s Harvey House was set to be demolished when crews arrived, but was saved by the community, and became not only a museum but a bed and breakfast too.
The Texas Historical Commission website provides useful background for visitors to appreciate the significance of the structure.
During the heyday of the passenger railway system, train travel afforded a certain level of luxury and elegance now lost in today’s fast and furious modes of transportation. The comfort of rail travel, with its down-filled sleepers, white-linen dining cars, and drowsy, rhythmic staccato of steel wheels on tracks, made for pleasant and relaxing travel while surrounded by the creature comforts reminiscent of a fine hotel. But the train wasn’t the only purveyor of railroad luxury. The Slaton Harvey House, a landmark Santa Fe railroad depot built in 1912 and located in the Plains Trail Region community of Slaton, offers an example of the services that once accompanied railroad travel.
The Harvey House, part of a chain created by Scottish immigrant Fred Harvey in 1876, provided fine dining to passengers preparing to travel on the Santa Fe line, serviced courtesy of a bevy of hostesses known as the Harvey Girls. The twostory Mission Revival structure features concrete walls a foot thick and a parapet decorated with Santa Fe Railway symbols.
Today, the Slaton Harvey House has been restored to its former status as host to travelers, providing bed and breakfast service and archive to artifacts and memorabilia of the Slaton railroad heritage.
With the site’s new status, the Texas Historical Commission will take care of the property and preserve it.
Learn more: visitslatonharveyhouse.com
