CONRAD N. HILTON – HILTON HOTELS
Conrad Nicholson Hilton was born on a Christmas Day, December 25, 1887 in
San Antonio, New Mexico. Conrad is the founder of the international chain of
business hotels named HILTON. He was the second oldest of eight children, and
oldest son, born to August and Mary Laufersweller Hilton. Hilton’s father August
owned a general store and at various times he also owned or operated the
town’s post office, bank, telegraph office and a small hotel in San Antonio, New
Mexico. Conrad Hilton grew up among these businesses. At some point Conrad’s
parents moved the family to Long Beach, California and soon after moving,
August Hilton lost a lot of money in an economic downturn and the family
returned to San Antonio, New Mexico. The Hiltons lived in a large house across
from the railroad station. As the family grew, August Hilton added rooms and the
house grew to be very spacious. When the children began leaving home, August
Hilton had an idea of renting rooms to boarders for $2.50 a day. Conrad Hilton
and his brothers walked to the railroad station where they would greet visitors
and carry their luggage back to the boarding house. This was Hilton’s
introduction to the hotel business. At age 21 Conrad took over management of
his father’s general store sharing in the profits. An old friend of Conrad Hilton
advised him to seek his fortune in Texas, where an oil boom was making men
rich. With $5,000 pinned to his lining of his coat, Conrad, traveled to Wichita,
where he hoped to buy a bank. In 1919 he bought his first hotel, called Mobley,
costing him $35,000. Shortly after, in 1925 he founded the first so-named Hilton
hotel in Dallas, Texas. Emphasis on the business traveler, and Hilton became
one of the world’s wealthiest men. That same year, 1925, he married Mary
Barron, from Owens-boro, Kentucky. The couple had three sons, Conrad Jr.,
William Barron, and Eric Michael. As his family grew, so did his business. He
planned to build a hotel every year. However, shortly after announcing plans to
build a $1.75 million dollar hotel in El Paso, Texas, the stock market crashed.
Hilton lost nearly everything during the Great Depression and was $500,00 in
dept. Hilton’s dedication to his business cost him his marriage. In 1934 Conrad
and Mary Hilton divorced. By 1937, Hilton had bought eight hotels and paid off
his debt. In 1942 he relocated his headquarters to Los Angeles, California and
moved to the Bel Air area of the city. He soon married his second wife, the
Hungarian actress, Zsa Zsa Gabor. They had a daughter named, Francesca, and
later divorced after five years of married. Conrad Hilton’s son, Conrad Jr.
(“Nicky”) married actress Elizabeth Taylor and they were married from 1950-51.
Conrad Hilton is the great-grandfather of party girls Paris and Nicky Hilton.
Hilton’s son, Barron, followed him as head of the company and by year 2000 had
nearly 500 hotels around the world. Conrad Hilton passed away of pneumonia
on January 3, 1979. His well known hotels still stand today.