Mobberly Hotel

The Mobberly Hotel opened for business in 1884 in Longview, Texas, as one of the finest hotels between El Paso, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Popular with travelers and railroad employees alike, the lavishly furnished three-story, 80-room hotel served Longview for almost 80 years. The Mobberly Hotel closed in the early 1960s and a fire destroyed it during the early morning hours of Sunday, June 13, 1965.

James "Jim" W. Mobberly was born in 1841 in Kentucky. At the beginning of the Civil War, Jim joined a Confederate cavalry unit. During war, the future hotel operator was arrested and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Rock Island, Illinois. After escaping to Canada, Jim and other family members moved to Texas in 1868. He constructed a lumber company on the Sabine River four miles east of the City of Longview.

In 1874 Jim married Mary Noel and entered the real estate and construction business. He also became active in Longview as a civic leader. He served on the City Council, Longview School Board and was a three-term Gregg County Commissioner. In 1883, Jim along with his brother Sam, constructed the Mobberly Hotel. He was active in the hotel business until he retired in 1893. Jim was listed as a director of the Galveston, Sabine, and St. Louis Railway Company in January, 1887.

On July 8, 1887, S. E. Noel, mother-in-law of Jim, died suddenly at the Mobberly Hotel. She was over 60 years of age and was a residence of Owensboro, Kentucky. She was interred in Longview. James M. Mobberly died in 1917.

Sam H. Mobberly was born on September 10, 1842, in Daviess County, Kentucky, and came from an old and honored Kentucky family. He was a member of the Baptist faith and a Mason.

He was a class of ready to die, never turning his back to the foe. At the first news of the strife between the States, he hurried to the nearest recruiting station and enlisted at Russellville in the 1st Kentucky Infantry under Col. Ben Harden Helms. Sam Mobberly was a genuine Southerner and was more faithful to his heritage than any other man.

Five years after the end of the Civil War, Mobberly married Miss Laura Rose Bennett, of Madison Station, Mississippi. They were married for 40 years. Comrade Mobberly was never ill until his last sickness which took his life. When the end came, he said: "I am ready." Samuel H. Mobberly died December 15, 1910, in the hotel which he constructed. He was survived by his wife and their four children. The last sad rites were performed by his Mason brothers. Samuel E. Mobberly became the Proprietor of the hotel.

The children of Samuel E. Mobberly were born in the Mobberly Hotel. In 1924, Samuel E. Mobberly was on the Board of Directors for The Citizens National Bank located in Longview. Searcy Birdsong Sr. became the manager of the hotel in 1931 due to Sam's failing health. After Samuel E. Mobberly's death in June, 1947 the hotel remained in the family for a few months while being managed by Searcy Birdsong, Jr. until it was sold to Harris-Hudson Hotel Company in 1948 and assets divided. Searcy Birdsong, Jr. was the nephew of Samual E. Mobberly and Mrs. Alamo Birdsong Mobberly.