The haunted Archer City, Texas was named for Branch Tanner Archer, a leading figure in the Texas Revolution and Republic of Texas.
The county was established and Archer City designated county seat by the state legislature in 1858, but the county was not organized until after the removal of the Kiowas and Comanches from the area. The townsite was originally surveyed in 1876 and was intended to lie on the projected paths of three railroad lines—the Fort Worth and Denver, the Houston and Texas Central, and the Red River and Rio Grande.
The first settlers in Archer County were the R.O. Prideaux family in 1874, who came from England, and the W.W. Hutton family, who came from Canada in 1875. Archer City, and the town was intended to lie on the projected paths of three railroad lines – the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, and the Red River and Rio Grande Railroad. In February 1877, Dr. C.B. Hutto, a dentist from South Carolina, purchased 4,422 acres from W.F. Adams at a cost of $2,110. Dr. Hutto donated property for the town square, a 20’ x 20’ wooden building to be used as a courthouse and a jail.
In 1927, Archer Hospital was built. The hospital was built by Dr DC MCurdy. It could only accommodate up to 14 patients, but at that time that was a decent number of people given the population of the entire town. Eventually, Dr Ted Alexander and his wife would purchase the hospital. It would change hands and go to Dr Howard Smitson. The hospital closed in 1957.
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It lay abandoned until 1978, when Jay and Patsy O’neil purchased the hospital and converted it into a private residence. They added a fireplace and took out the emergency entrance, and made many other renovations to make it a comfortable home. They seem to live there uninterrupted until 1985, when Bertie Kinsey purchased the building.
Today it is known as the Lonesome Dove Inn and is permanently closed.
It is unique and typically authentically Old West. Majestic white columns on either side of the door, proudly bearing the Texas Lone Star symbol in the glass.
Mary Slack Webb and Ceil Slack Cleveland have owned the home since 1998. Webb and Cleveland bought the two-story brick Colonial style building, with six bedrooms, in 1998. It was built in 1926 and has been everything from a private home to a hospital.
Both sisters lived in other places, but decided that someone should return to Archer City to care for their aging father, Joe Slack. Running a B&B, the sisters decided, would give Webb some income while looking after her dad.
They have opened their doors to anyone interested in experiencing Old West charm. When they opened it as an Inn, they named it Lonesome Dove after the book and the movie of that name. The author of the book, Larry McMurtry, is in fact from Archer City. One of the guest rooms is the Comanche Moon, another is Terms of Endearment, Evening Star, and Cadillac Jack. Much of the inn is dedicated in its design and decorations to Mcmurtry and every now and then Mr McMurtry makes a visit.
Guests eat a breakfast of fruit and eggs in the Buffalo Girls room. They can watch television or any of McMCurtry’s movies in the den known as the Last Picture Show. The living room is dubbed Texasville.
Ceil was a very successful author, university professor, and education administrator.
She served as Vice President for University Affairs at Queens College (CUNY), and as Vice President for University Affairs and Development at Stony Brook University and Executive Director of the Stony Brook Foundation. She concluded her academic career as a professor of English and Literary Criticism at New York University. Ceil was a high school classmate of the author Larry McMurtry, who called her “the prettiest girl in town,” and loosely based the character Jacy Farrow on Ceil in his novel, The Last Picture Show.
Larry was born on June 3rd, 1936 she was born on January 1, 1936. He died on March 25, 2021 Ceil died on January 14, 2021.
In the book Ghost Hunting Texas by April Slaughter according to Judy McCullough, a paranormal investigators with TRIPP She said. “We conducted two investigations at Lonesome, dove in and even spent a night as guests to work in a little photography and EVP work. I had very strange experiences where I felt as though there was a young male spirit trying to communicate with me telepathically. I had never had anything happen to me like that before. I reached my hand out a couple of times where I thought that boy might have been, and I actually felt an odd tingling sensation.”
Many people and had many ghostly experiences over the years at the Lonesome Dove Inn in Archer, Texas.
Strange voices. Ghosts dressed like turn of the century hospital employees. Children. Males and Females. Today, there’s no opportunity to explore these Paranormal events because the Lonesome Dove Inn is closed permanently.
Because Archer City was the hometown to the famous author Larry McMurtry. There is another building that is devoted to and all about Larry McMurtry. It is called The Larry McMurtry Literary Center a non profit organization.
According to the visitor center in Archer, Texas: “
Once an internationally known source for over 300,000 rare and antiquarian books, the late Larry McMurtry’s Booked Up stores are no longer open on Center and Main Streets in Archer City as they once were.
However, McMurtry’s legacy and the iconic original building remain: The Larry McMurtry Literary Center will soon operate in the original Booked Up #1 building! It is not yet open to the public, though visitors are welcome to stop by during the day if they see activity.
In November of 2022, two of McMurtry’s original Booked Up buildings and contents were sold by Khristal Merklin, his book store manager and longtime friend who then owned them, to HGTV and Magnolia celebrities Chip and Joanna Gaines. In October of 2024, the Gaines sold the Booked Up #1 building to The Larry McMurtry Literary Center, a non-profit organization borne of the Archer City Writers Workshop. The Gaines sold the other remaining Booked Up building across the street to the First Baptist Church.
Part of the original book collection remains for sale at Booked Up AC online under the ownership of Merklin. Other items from the original store and thousands of books will remain part of the new Literary Center.