In 1874, three years after the rail line was laid through Corsicana, lawyer Henry Molloy (1829-1913) had a one-story hotel built to accommodate businessmen and other travelers. Molloy added the second story in 1881. Over the years, the building came to be a center of business and social activity and has been owned by a number of the town's leading citizens, including George T. Jester, father of former Texas Governor Beauford H. Jester. The hotel, which closed in 1975, stands as a reminder of Corsicana's early days as a railroad town.