\u201cBellhop at the Baker Hotel\u201d<\/a> follows Z.A. Calhoun, a bellhop who worked at the hotel during its heyday in the 1930s. The 26-minute film is available to watch for free on YouTube.<\/a><\/p>\n The documentary comes from Calhoun\u2019s grandson, Blake Calhoun, and has been three decades in the making.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what to know.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac In case you missed it: <\/p>\n New documentary out on Baker Hotel<\/p>\n Z.A. first sat down for an interview with Blake back in 1997, around 25 years after the hotel closed.<\/p>\n The idea was to make a documentary about the historic building, and Z.A.\u2019s experience when the hotel was in full swing. However, as Blake puts it, life took him in other directions, and the taped interview sat on a shelf for more than two decades.<\/p>\n \u201cThen in 2020 I rediscovered them while converting my old tape library to digital, and I realized the real story wasn\u2019t just about the hotel \u2013 it was about my grandfather\u2019s experiences there and the remarkable life he built afterward in Mineral Wells,\u201d Blake wrote in a news release.<\/p>\n Z.A. worked at the Baker as teenager until he left to attend Texas A&M University.<\/p>\n After college, he returned to Mineral Wells and operated a furniture and carpet company for more than 40 years. He was also a volunteer firefighter and served as president of the local Kiwanis Club chapter.<\/p>\n Z.A. died in 2005. He was 87.<\/a><\/p>\n More on the Baker Hotel<\/p>\n The Baker Hotel opened in 1929.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long for the hotel to become a national destination for health and wellness, due in part to the increasing popularity of the town\u2019s mineral water. Notable celebrities like Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Roy Rogers and the Three Stooges stayed at the hotel, as did former President Lyndon B. Johnson (before he took office).<\/p>\n After decades of prosperity, the hotel closed in 1972 and sat empty for years.<\/p>\n In 2019, Southlake-based developers<\/a> Laird Fairchild and Chad Patton announced they had purchased the Baker and planned to embark on a $65 million renovation. The initial goal was to reopen by 2022.<\/p>\n As of 2026, renovations remain ongoing with an expected reopening in 2028.<\/p>\n This story was originally published July 25, 2026 at 12:00 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n
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