Sea Side Hotel was located on the west corner of the intersection of Center and Guadalupe Streets and was owned and operated by Judge John O'Neil.  The hotel was built in 1888 but burned to the ground in March, 1909.  The large white building that is visible on the left side of the hotel is the old Calhoun County courthouse erected in 1887 at the corner of Austin and Ann streets.  The other structure visible just to the left of the courthouse is the John O'Neil residence which faced Benavides street near the corner of Benavides and Austin Streets.  The folks all seem to be interested in the photographer who is probably balancing himself on the roof of Dr. Grace's residence across the intersection from the hotel.

   
Young Grover Boyd (pictured above in 1906) mailed this card to his friend Clark Blardone in San Antonio on March 16, 1909 informing him that the Sea Side "was in ashes."  It is interesting to guess at the reason for his haste (postmarked at 1 PM) at informing his friend of the Sea Side's end and for his note of melancholy.  Perhaps the hotel had been a gathering place for the young people of Port Lavaca and he wanted his friend to have a memento of  good times spent at the Sea Side.   Note that the card was addressed to Mr. Blardone in San Antonio - in care of W.J.M.A - no street address necessary, even in San Antonio!!   This is the reverse side of the enlarged photograph above.

 
A map (not to scale) of Port Lavaca showing the relative locations of the Sea Side, the old court house, and the John O'Neil home.  At right is John O'Neil's business card and his signature appears at the lower left corner of the card.  Notice that in the fanciful line drawing of the hotel, the left wing of the Sea Side is portrayed as a single story structure.  It is unknown whether the second floor that is clearly shown in the photograph of the Sea Side was added after the line drawing was done or if the drawing is in error perhaps drawn from a verbal or written description.