Roanoke Route Walking Tour Stop 5: Silver Spur Saloon

Silver Spur Saloon, 1886

114 N. Oak St.

The Silver Spur Saloon, constructed from native rock in 1886 for brothers R.M. and B.S. Snead came into existence just five years after the Texas and Pacific Railroad laid out the community of Roanoke. Initially, for a period spanning approximately 10 years, the building served as a saloon on the ground floor and possibly a brothel on the second floor, featuring seven rooms. A local ordinance mandated that separate entrances be used for different businesses, forcing patrons to access the brothel via an outdoor staircase.

Over the years, the building underwent various transformations, housing the justice of the peace, a grocery store, café, mechanic's garage, hardware store, doctor's office, and even the city's telephone switchboard operator. After a lengthy period of closure and abandonment, owners John and Linda Moore generously donated the building to the City in 2004, with the request that it be restored to its former grandeur. In January 2008, the Roanoke Visitor Center and Museum opened its doors to the public within this historic structure. Today, this building is a Texas Recorded Historic Landmark, warmly welcoming thousands of visitors to the City of Roanoke each year.

The saloon after it opened in 1886. There supposedly was a brothel on the second floor, which could only be accessed from the outside staircase, seen on the left of the photo. The saloon only operated for about 10 to 15 years. 

One of the many businesses housed in the building was Horton & Graham Groceries, seen here between 1912 and 1914. 

The two middle columns in the front had been cut out when the building was a mechanic’s garage in the 1940s. Despite it being abandoned many times over the decades, some new business always tried to make a go in the historic building.  

The building had fallen into complete disrepair, with a collapsed roof and back wall, by the 2000s. 

The newly renovated museum’s grand opening in 2008.