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Casa De Palmas Hotel Story
Robert Runyon wipes his brow and turns his camera southward toward the center of McAllen. Four stories above the earth, the south tower of the hotel they call Casa de Palmas gives him a bird’s eye view of the border town’s increasing bustle. The round, red tiled mission towers hide him from the sun, but not from the heat of the tropical landscape. It was work to haul his equipment up to the building’s highest point, but in 1918, there is no better place to document the post-war transformation of McAllen than in the new, Spanish style hotel.
In the early twentieth century, many folks came to the Rio Grande Valley via the railroad, seeking a new way of life. Kentucky born and bred, Runyon was a young man headed south, making a living selling sandwiches and cigarettes on the railway between Houston and the Rio Grande Valley.
Landing in the Rio Grande in 1909, Runyon entered an extraordinary land, marked by the dynamism of two cultures and nations growing side by side. He became curio manager of the railroad depot, and began to document ever day border life with his camera: the raising of buildings, holiday parades, bullfights, family portraits, and the violence and romance of the Mexican Revolution.
He was there when Constitucionalistas routed Federalistas in Matamoros, capturing the execution of the enemies of Venustiano Carranza, governor of Coahuila, and future president of Mexico. He was there when revolutionary violence crossed the border, documenting the damage to the family ranches around McAllen. He was there for the influx of political refugees and for the maneuvers of the American Army under General Pershing, and for the arrival of thousands of National Guardsmen, sent by President Wilson to quell border fighting.
When McAllen businessmen saw the growth of their young town as a result of a population boom, Runyon was there; his tripod set up just south of the railroad tracks, he captured the construction of La Casa de Palmas, the future social and business center of McAllen. Lined with stately palms, the solid brick and wooden beams of Casa de Palmas became a foundation for a comfortable and sumptuous interior, meant for the business and pleasure of the growing border upper class. In one photograph from the street, laborers balance on scaffolding, finishing the tower masonry. In another photo, the palms touch the edge of the tiled roof, as avocado and papaya trees shade the Valley elite along the swimming pool, in the hotel’s secluded courtyard.
In the hotel tower, Runyon’s shutter lens opens and closes, etching in film the development of Main Street. In a land that seems both restless and satisfied, saturated in colors of citrus and year around tropical flora, it is hard not to be inspired by the beauty of the landscape. He thinks back to his own escape to the border, an adventure that had won him popular acclaim as a photographer and the love of his new wife, Amelia Longoria. Runyon covers his camera and packs his equipment, perhaps not yet realizing the importance of his work, or the importance of his new McAllen perch: within the year, the thick hotel walls will offer refuge to hundreds during the violent Hurricane of 1919, marking its entrance into border history.
Runyon leaves the gardens of the Casa de Palmas, and in a few years, will leave his photography behind. In a way, it is almost a shame, as the history of our hotel was just beginning, and Runyon did not document the legendary antics of our guests Marlon Brando or Anthony Quinn, during the making of the acclaimed film, Viva Zapata. He was unable to capture a portrait of Bob Hope eating our Paella, or Bing Crosby and Jose Greco relaxing with our Sangria, or Lyndon B. Johnson, enjoying the sanctuary of our palm-lined courtyard.
While border photographer Robert Runyon left Casa de Palmas years ago, the white- washed walls, high ceilings, smooth arches, cool tiles, and rich, period furnishings are still here.
We invite you to discover our first class hospitality, as we unite cultures in comfortable elegance, at the Historic Renaissance Casa de Palmas Hotel.
"The Elegant Blend of Two Worlds....Texas Hospitality with a Spanish Accent"
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101 N. Main Street • McAllen, Texas 78501
Phone: (956) 631-1101 • Fax: (956) 631-7934
Website & Marketing: L.E.T. Group
Copyright © 2008 L.E.T. Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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