A postcard of the Lamar Hotel (Creative Commons photo attribution: photo courtesy Boston Public Library)
A postcard of the Lamar Hotel (Creative Commons photo attribution: phThe Lamar Hotel’s Suite 8F has been call the “unofficial capital of Texas.” The two-bedroom, three-bath with a kitchenette, a formal dining room, living room suite was leased by George Brown of Brown & Root Construction Company. From the late 1930s until the 1960s, the movers and shakers of Houston made the important business and political decisions for Texas in that room. These men included James Abercrombie (Cameron Iron Works), George and Herman Brown (Brown & Root), John Connally (Texas Governor), Hugh Roy Cullen (Quintana Petroleum), Morgan J. Davis (Humble Oil), James A. Elkins, Sr. (banker and lawyer), William Hobby (owner of the Houston Post), Lyndon B. Johnson (U.S. Senate Majority Leader and later President), Jesse H. Jones (builder, financier, publisher, sometimes called “Mr. Houston”), Albert Thomas (chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee), William Vinson (Great Southern Life Insurance Company), and Gus Wortham (American General Insurance).
The 8F group came to the Lamar Hotel to drink, play poker, relax, talk politics, make business decisions, discuss new ideas, and decide which candidates to support. During their tenure, the right-wing 8F group of democrats Democrats launched or destroyed may politicians through their fund-raising and organizing. If the 8F group gave their blessing to someone or something, it went unchallenged. Some have said that the decisions of the men of Suite 8F not only affected Houston, but Texas, the U.S., and the world. Their rule was a gerontocracy, or a government run by old people; Texas translation: good ole boys.
The members of Suite 8F have long passed on. The site of the Lamar Hotel is a parking lot. All that is left are tales of what was said and the decisions made behind the door of Suite 8F, and the room key and door sign (8F) which are on display in the Heritage Society Museum in Downtown Houston.
