Mr. Baker owned several hotels throughout Texas at that time. Among them were the St. Anthony, the Gunther, and Menger in San Antonio, the Stephen F. Austin in Austin, the Texas Hotel in Ft. Worth, the Baker Hotel in Dallas, the Goodhue in Port Arthur, the Galvez in Galveston, the Edison in Beaumont, and the Sterling in Houston.

Construction on the Baker began about 1926 and was completed in 1929, for $1,250,000.00. The facility was magnificent, reflecting the sprawling spirit of the roaring twenties. Towering fourteen stories it stood out over the small town of 7,000 residents like a brown brick giant. The hotel housed approximately 460 guest rooms,
two complete spas, and what is said to be, the first Olympic size swimming pool in the United States. The Baker could rival any plush hotel In New York or Chicago.

Many celebrities visited or performed at the Baker, according to some of the old timers and the old registers. Such names as the Three Stooges, Clarke Gable, Judy Garland, Will Rogers, Marlene Dietrich, General John Pershing, L.B.J., Jean Harlow, Sam Goldwyn, Sammy Kay, Dr. Charles Mayo, Jack Dempsey, Sam Rayburn, Helen Keller, Ronald Reagan and Mary Martin, just to name a few. 

According to an article in Palo Pinto County History Vol. 1, a waiter recalled a $2.00 tip given him by the outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, although he didn't recognize them at the time. Many Big Bands blasted out their tunes from the Sky Room at the top of the building or in the Brazos Room located on the first floor. Lawrence Welk remembered his starting out days at the Baker when he could barely speak English. He commented that the Baker was one of the most lavish hotels he played at during those days. Other 
named entertainers of the time that visited the Baker included Guy Lombardo, Paul Whiteman, Dorothy Lamoure, and later, Pat Boone. 

World War II ushered in a new era for the hotel. Fort Wolters, an Army Basic Training Center grew to be the largest infantry replacement base in the country. As many as 30,000 soldiers passed through its gates in 1942 alone. The Baker was at its peak as it catered to both civilian and military personnel alike.

Life in America, however, began to change by the 1950s. The FDA was becoming a strong influence in the way medical treatment and medications were being distributed. Government crackdowns in advertising of cure-all tonics and mineral waters changed the way we viewed medicine. New drugs such as antibiotics and preventive medicines soon began to take the mainstream of the health field as the needs of the mineral waters began to fade. 

The interstate system in the late 1960s and early 1970s re-routed the main flow of traffic out of the city of Mineral Wells. I-20, passing 14 miles to the south, cut off a major financial artery to the small town.

In 1952, Mr. T.B. Baker, getting on in years, retired. He had no children but left his successful hotel empire to his nephew, Earl M. Baker who was himself very successful in the Baker Hotel business.