Written By Max Newberry, with input by his brother, Joe Newberry and cousin, Bill Motley, all of whom are great grandsons of the original builders and operators of the hotel, Mary Jane and J. A. Gould
The year was 1897. The adventurous 38 year old J. A. decided it was time to move west and leave the family homestead where they had operated a wood mill on the Chattahooca River near Gainsville, Georgia. The mill had been purchased by his father who had gotten wealthy from gold mining in California after the big gold strike in 1849. They had five children, Will, Cora, Margaret (Maggie), Bell and Minor. After some time, they settled in Charity, Missouri, located Northeast of Springfield, for a few years where Maggie met and married Joseph Jackson (Jack) Atteberry.
Around 1900 the Southwest corner of Oklahoma was opened for homesteading. They had become acquainted with Dr. J. E. Jones in Charity and the two families decided to travel together and make their home in this new territory. They arrived in November 1900 and Dr. Jones built a house about where the LaVista Theater was located on Broadway. J.A., who was a carpenter, built a two story hotel across the street on the corner of West Broadway and First Street. The first floor of the hotel contained their living quarters, two rental rooms, a large lobby, and large kitchen with a table for a dozen people and a cistern in the back. The second floor contained 7 rental rooms. No indoor bathroom facilities were available until 1920 when they were added on the first floor in a renovation that was necessary due to a fire in the back of the house. Restroom facilities were added to the second floor in the 1960�s to comply with Health Department regulations.
In 1910 the Gould�s persuaded their daughter, Maggie and husband Jack Atteberry, grandparents of Max and Joe Newbery, to move from St. Louis, Missouri, where Jack was a street car operator, to a new town site, later named Gould, eight miles east of Hollis where a new railroad station was to be built. Jack and J.A. built one of the first houses in the new town and a general merchandise store in which Jack established a Post Office. Since Jack was the first Postmaster, a position he held until 1933, he was entitled to submit a name for the post office. He submitted the name of Gibson in honor of the man who owned the land on which part of the town was built. This was rejected by the authorities since a town by the name of Ft. Gibson existed in Oklahoma. He then submitted the name of Gould in honor of his mother and father-in-law and this was officially accepted as the name of the new town.
The Gould Hotel was a popular place which served the new community of Hollis with many functions. In its early days the second floor had a large porch facing Broadway where one could watch the town�s activities Therefore, it served as a gathering place where there were many discussions over religion, politics and local affairs. Since many of the guests stayed for extended periods, it served as a boarding house with Mary Jane Gould as the cook. She was joined in this activity in the 1930�s by her daughter, Bell Acker, grandmother of Bill Motley. They were very good cooks and the table was always crowded by people enjoying the fresh food. The food was cooked fresh since there was no refrigeration. The source of a lot of the food came from their back yard where they kept a flock of chickens for meat and eggs, a goat for milk and butter, and a garden for fresh vegetables and canning. The hotel was invariably full since there were no other hotels in Hollis until 1929 when Walter Motley, grandfather of Bill Motley, built the three story brick hotel on Broadway in Hollis.
The Gould�s lived in the hotel until they died in the mid 1940�s in their 90�s. Their daughter, Bell Acker, continued to operate the hotel and lived there until closing it in 1979.
The hotel remained vacant and it had deteriorated to a bad condition until 1997 when it was sold by Bill Motley to Kelly, Lori, Scott and Christy Horton. The Horton�s saved the structure with a complete refurbishment and the establishment of a restaurant. The renovated building retained the original rental rooms which served as individual dining rooms. It was tastefully decorated with items of the past, including pictures of the original owners and other historical pictures of it's past. It is now 105 years old. Hopefully it will continue to serve in some useful function for a long time to come.
Gould Hotel
Excerpt from "Keep the Horses Up Tonight"
By Bo Guest
"The Gould Hotel is located on the corner of Broadway and First Streets. Ever since it was built by Mr. and Mrs. J.A. Gould sometime before 1910, when the railroad came to Hollis, it has served as a landmark. The Hotel and Dining room outlived all its competition. Belle Acker operated the hotel after her parents� death. Mr. and Mrs. Gould took in many an ill person down on his luck and Belle continued the tradition. Incidentally, Gould, Oklahoma was named for Mr. Gould."
