Day Trips: Conrad Hilton Center, Cisco

The Conrad Hilton Center in Cisco was called the Mobley Hotel in 1919. The proprietor was renting rooms in the two-story, redbrick hotel on eight-hour shifts when the future world-famous hotelier first walked into the busy lobby.

Conrad Nicholson Hilton came to the Texas oil boom town 45 miles east of Abilene from his hometown of San Antonio, N.M., in hopes of buying an interest in a local bank. When the owner raised the price, he declined. He headed to the Mobley Hotel for a night's sleep before returning home.

That was his introduction to the 40-room hotel next to the railroad tracks. It also became the first hotel in a chain that ultimately reached around the world.

Henry Mobley opened the hotel in 1916. Despite its success, he wanted to move on. He sold the building to 32-year-old Hilton for $40,000, $35,000 of it from investors. The debt was repaid in a year.

By the time Hilton sold the Cisco hotel in 1929, he was well on his way to bigger things. He opened hotels in Dallas in 1925, Abilene in 1927, Marlin in 1929, and El Paso in 1930. His first out-of-state hotel was the Hotel Andaluz in Albuquerque in 1939, still a beautiful hotel.

Rescued by the Hilton Foundation in 1986, the first floor of the Mobley became a community center. The second floor houses a small but interesting museum with a replica of a room, historic furnishings, and the Hilton family history. The displays are professional and informative.

The Conrad Hilton Center in Cisco occupies the former Mobley Hotel and includes a small park at 309 Conrad Hilton Blvd. A short drive from I-20, the free museum is closed on Sunday. For information, call 245/442-2537.

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1,665th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere: Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.