When Austin-based restaurateur Doug Guller first laid eyes on the rural, uninhabited Hill Country town of Bankersmith, he had one vision: to turn the untouched land into a mecca for swimsuit-clad women and their admirers.
It wasn’t an easy feat. After supposedly purchasing the ghost town in 2012 from a Craigslist ad, Guller’s first order of business was to change the name to Bikinis, Texas—an homage to his “breastaurant” chain, Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill. Locals from nearby Fredericksburg were shocked, but their disbelief turned to rage when he planned to host a busty, day-long inauguration party. Word quickly got out that Baywatch star Carmen Electra would be in attendance, which amassed hundreds of RSVPs. Not only would the sex symbol be stopping by, but her breasts would be cast in bronze and inducted into the town’s “Bikini Hall of Fame.” “I didn’t even think twice when they asked me,” Electra told the Austin American-Statesman. “I’m looking forward to Texas showing me how it’s done. I want to be schooled.”
But locals did not share her optimistic sentiment. “We don’t need the weird people here,” neighbor Tom Roarack, 67, told the San Antonio Express-News.
Despite protests of the event, the show went on. Naturally, that included a daytime swimsuit competition and an evening performance by the one and only Jerry Jeff Walker. There was no running water on-site, but the beer flowed freely. Inebriated attendees stumbled to their cars, passing the placards that Hill Country residents had erected: “Bikinis are for the beach. Need directions?”
Guller soon realized there would be no success without the support of his neighbors, who tirelessly pushed back against him. He spent the following years attempting to mend fences before finally changing the name back to Bankersmith and listing his town for sale in 2017. “We’d love to see it realize its potential,” Guller said in the Statesman.
Today, Fredericksburg promotes Bankersmith as a family-friendly destination, complete with live music, dancing, and a rustic saloon. While their efforts to draw in visitors is admirable, perhaps there’s one thing missing that could make the town stand out: the bronzed imprint of Carmen Electra’s bust, which has long since disappeared.