Excelsior House Hotel
116 W Lafayette St, Jefferson, TX
Jefferson, TX
A brick-and-timber hotel that has taken in travelers since the days when steamboats tied up a block away, still welcoming guests in the heart of old Jefferson.
The Excelsior House is one of the oldest continuously operating hotels in Texas, a brick-and-timber inn that has taken in travelers in the riverport town of Jefferson since the 1850s. It rose in the boom years when Jefferson was a thriving inland port, its wharves crowded with steamboats that carried cotton and goods down the bayous to the Red River and on toward New Orleans. Guests stepped off the boats and, in many cases, straight into the Excelsior's parlors.
Where other frontier hotels burned, closed, or crumbled, the Excelsior survived, and in the twentieth century it was carefully restored and furnished with period antiques, keeping alive the feel of the age that built it. A long list of notable guests is said to have passed through its doors over the years, and the hotel's storied halls, along with a well-earned reputation for ghosts, have made it as much a piece of living history as a place to spend the night.
What Guests Love
- Sleeping in a hotel that has hosted travelers since the steamboat age
- Rooms and parlors furnished with period antiques and local history
- A walkable historic downtown of brick storefronts and old homes just outside the door
- Ghost stories and traditions passed down through generations of guests
Worth Knowing
- This is a historic building, so rooms carry the character and quirks of their age rather than modern-chain uniformity
- Jefferson is small and walkable, with shops and eateries within a short stroll of the hotel
- The town leans into its haunted reputation, so ghost tours and lore are part of the experience
- Weekends and festival dates fill early, so plan a visit ahead in busy seasons
Details
Jefferson, TX
Learn about Excelsior House Hotel
Jefferson, the inland port
In the middle of the nineteenth century, Jefferson was one of the most important towns in Texas, an inland riverport where steamboats could reach far up the bayou system connected to Caddo Lake and the Red River. Cotton and cargo moved through its warehouses, merchants grew rich, and fine brick buildings and homes went up along its streets. For a time it was among the largest towns in the state, a gateway between the East Texas interior and the wider world of river trade.
The boom did not last. Changes to the waterways lowered the water levels that steamboats depended on, and the railroads that reshaped Texas commerce largely bypassed the town. Jefferson's port trade faded, and the town settled into a quieter life. That very decline is part of why so much of its old architecture still stands, preserved rather than torn down and rebuilt, giving today's Jefferson its remarkable historic character.
The Excelsior through the years
The Excelsior House opened in the 1850s to serve the flood of travelers arriving by steamboat, and it has taken in guests, in one form or another, ever since. Over its long life it has been enlarged, updated, and renamed at times, but it never stopped operating, which is what earns it a place among the oldest continuously running hotels in Texas.
By the mid-twentieth century the aging hotel was saved and restored through the efforts of a local garden club and preservation-minded citizens, who furnished it with antiques and reopened it as a living link to Jefferson's golden age. Its guest register over the decades is said to include a striking roll of writers, presidents, and other notable travelers, part of the lore that surrounds the place.
Ghosts and the town's deeper past
Like many very old hotels, the Excelsior has gathered a reputation for being haunted, with long-told stories of footsteps, cold spots, and rooms with a reputation among guests. Jefferson as a whole leans into this side of its history, and ghost walks and lantern tours have become part of what draws visitors to the town after dark.
Beneath the steamboat-era story lies a much older one. The Piney Woods and the Caddo Lake country were the homeland of the Caddo people, skilled farmers and traders whose towns and mounds long predated any European arrival. Their descendants are enrolled today in the Caddo Nation. The riverport that made Jefferson rich rose on land shaped by that far deeper human history.
Visiting Jefferson and the hotel
A stay at the Excelsior puts you in the middle of one of the best-preserved historic towns in Texas, where brick storefronts, iron balconies, and antebellum homes line walkable streets full of antique shops, cafes, and small museums. The town hosts festivals and seasonal events through the year, and its bed-and-breakfast tradition draws visitors looking for a slower, old-fashioned kind of getaway.
Spring and fall bring the mildest weather and some of the town's biggest events, while the winter holidays turn Jefferson into a lantern-lit showcase of its heritage. Summer is warm and humid in true East Texas fashion, softened by the shade of the surrounding pines. In any season, the Excelsior offers a night inside the history that made this quiet river town remarkable.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Jefferson
Historic downtown Jefferson
At the door
Walkable blocks of brick storefronts, antique shops, cafes, and antebellum homes preserved from the steamboat era.
Caddo Lake State Park
About 15 miles east
A maze of bald cypress and Spanish moss on the only large natural lake in Texas, laced with paddling trails.
Jefferson General Store
In town
An old-fashioned mercantile stocked with candy, keepsakes, and local goods, a nostalgic stop on Jefferson's main street.