Salado: Stagecoach Inn & Barton House

Founded in 1861 as the Shady Villa Hotel, the second floor balcony of what became the Stagecoach Inn is said to be where Sam Houston delivered a fiery anti-secession speech. Generals Robert E. Lee and George Custer, as well as cattleman Shanghai Pearce, are believed to have stayed here. The restaurant didn’t open until 1943. Still, its innovative menu – whose favorites included hush puppies, tomato aspic, banana fritter and, the Strawberry Kiss – earned accolades from state and national media. Many of these dishes will be on the menu when the hotel and restaurant re-open in the next few years after a top-to-bottom renovation.

Nearby, the 1866 home of pioneer and area physician Wellborn Barton – by which the Chisholm Trail passed – is now a restaurant.

Stagecoach Inn

• 400 S. Main St., Salado, TX
• Visit Website
• National Register of Historic Places 

The Range at the Barton House

• 101 N. Main St., Salado, TX
• 254-947-5111
• Visit Website
• National Register of Historic Places