Maggie Holt Simpson

October 17, 1858 - June 18, 1946

Maggie Holt Simpson came to Holliday in 1889 from Tennessee at age 31 to visit her aunt and uncle. In 1890, she married Hampton Wade Simpson, who was the mail stagecoach owner.

She was one of the first teachers in Holliday. She taught at the Lone Oak School and at the Pleasant Valley School. She gave birth to the first white child born in Holliday, Herod “Pap” Simpson in 1892. Mrs. Simpson’s husband left on a cattle drive to Dodge City, Kansas in 1894. He never returned to Holliday or heard from again.

The Holliday Hotel was built in 1889 and in 1907, Mrs. Simpson purchased it. The hotel had a kitchen, dining room, parlor, and seven bedrooms. Her first boarders were cowboys moving to Archer County. As more oil was successfully discovered, the boarders consisted of mostly oil field workers. In 1916, five more rooms were added. For a $1 a day you would get a room and three meals at the Simpson Hotel.

Simpson ran the hotel until her death in 1946, almost 40 years dedicated to hospitality. She was affectionately called "Auntie" by friends and family. She was said to frequently sit on the porch in her rocking chair, chatting with passersby.