The town of Navasota was founded in 1854 and the tracks brought the railroad by 1859. One of the first buildings built here was a hotel, built by Ms. Louisa Loftin. She was quite the ambitious widow for a woman during the late nineteenth century. Conflicting research shows the hotel was either built as early as 1860 or as late as 1876. She soon met and married P. A. Smith and the hotel bore his name. At first, the railroad brought a great number of patrons, but, unfortunately, the Civil War brought the economy of Navasota as well as the success of the hotel, down, after only a few years.