Magnolia Building (Magnolia Petroleum Building)

The story

The Magnolia Petroleum Building opened in August 1922 next to the Adolphus Hotel, at a cost of $4 million. Alfred C. Bossom and Lang & Witchell were the architects, and it was the headquarters of the Magnolia Petroleum Company. It surpassed the Adolphus and for many years was the tallest building in Texas.

In 1934 the company put a neon Pegasus on the roof to mark the American Petroleum Institute's first annual meeting in Dallas. Pegasus later became the Mobil Oil logo after Mobil merged with Magnolia in 1959. The sign stopped rotating in 1974 because of mechanical problems. The city of Dallas bought the building in 1977, and it was listed on the National Register in 1978. Developers from Denver bought it in 1997 and turned it into a luxury hotel. The old sign was beyond repair, so a new one was built and lit, rotating, at midnight on January 1, 2000.

What's There Now

It is a hotel, Magnolia Dallas Downtown, and the Pegasus is still on the roof.

Everything that was here

• 1922–present

  Magnolia Building (Magnolia Petroleum Building)Other

  Built as an oil company headquarters next to the Adolphus, it later wore a rotating neon Pegasus that became a Dallas symbol.

  See the map in 1923 →

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Nearby history