TPR Fun Fact | Austin, Texas

The Driskill Hotel’s $10 Rescue

Austin nearly lost the Driskill Hotel. A community campaign helped save it by selling stock for $10 a share.

In 1969, plans to redevelop the historic hotel collapsed, leaving the building facing possible demolition.

The following year, the Save-the-Driskill campaign raised more than $700,000 through sales of $10 stock in the new Driskill Hotel Corporation, according to the hotel’s historic timeline. Loans and corporate contributions helped bring the redevelopment budget to nearly $2 million.

The hotel celebrated its grand reopening in February 1973.

Today, the Driskill is also known for ghost stories. Austin public radio station KUT investigated those legends in 2024, documenting the hotel’s paranormal reputation—not proving that it is haunted.

The remarkable part of this Texas story is firmly grounded in history: people helped save a landmark that might otherwise have disappeared.

Sources

The Driskill — Historic Timeline, June 1969, 1970 and February 1973:
https://driskillhotel.com/about/timeline/

Texas Architect — “Driskill Hotel Undergoes Renovation,” January 7, 2022:
https://magazine.texasarchitects.org/2022/01/07/driskill-hotel-undergoes-renovation/

KUT — “Is the Driskill hotel haunted? We held a seance to find out,” October 29, 2024:
https://www.kut.org/austin/2024-10-29/austin-tx-driskill-hotel-haunted-ghosts

Verified through October 28, 2026.

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