By ERIC VICCARO

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Nocona residents Bob and Kristal Ferguson and Rusty and Carolyn Fenoglio on July 1 purchased the former Nocona Inn at 219 Clay Street.

The plan is to reopen the small hotel by early February 2015, just in time for Nocona’s Mardi Gras celebration, under a new name – Red River Station Inn.

Coincidentally, a new restaurant will open next door called Red River Pizzeria sometime later this year.

Nocona has long been a resting spot for travelers, with United States Highway 82 and several Texas State Highways and farm-to-market routes running like arteries throughout the community.

“It was a rest point for those headed north up to the Red River and Oklahoma,” said Bob Ferguson.

The building was once the location of a mini-mall.

The Fergusons and Fenoglios have the idea that remodeled rooms will have specific themes based on figures from Nocona’s storied past.

The previous hotel had 18 rooms, but that will be pared down to 14 once remodeling has been completed, Ferguson reported.

Some of the historical people expected to be included are: Herman Joseph “H.J.” Justin, Enid Justin, Quanah Parker, Ruth Roach and Jack Crain.

“Each room will have a shadow box that will explain the story of that room,” Bob’s wife Kristal Ferguson said.

Bob Ferguson explained the hotel will have a New Orleans theme – especially with the exteriors and an interior courtyard – because the first explorers to see the area were of French descent back in the 1700s.

“They came here even before the Spanish,” he said.

Ferguson and others are currently gutting the rooms, which includes the carpeting.

The quartet of owners is terming it a “total renovation.”

Read the full story in the Sept. 3 edition of The Bowie News.