The Palace Hotel was constructed in 1903 at 216 LaBranch Street, at the corner of Congress Avenue in Downtown Houston. It is located on a block that was part of the original survey of Houston in 1836. This property was previously owned at different times by two Houston mayors, William Robinson Baker and William J. Hutchins. In 1902, a grocer, William A. Burkett and Kate Burkett acquired the two lots at the northwest corner of LaBranch Street and Congress Avenue, while commissioning the development of a hotel with John Stadtler.[3]
