Erastus and Sarah Reed built the central core of the hotel in 1859 as the Reed House, slightly offset from the two wings, and its location between Fredericksburg and San Antonio made it an important stopping point for travelers, especially cattle drivers and military men such as Robert E. Lee. In 1878, J.C. Roundtree and W.L. Wadsworth purchased and expanded the hotel, continuing its Greek Revival style at a time when Victorian design was popular, a choice that left it as one of the few surviving resort hotels in Texas with Greek Revival architecture. In 1884, James T. Clark converted it into a health spa with a kitchen suited to dietary regimens, free daily stagecoach service to San Antonio, and local doctors on call, while nurses and servants could stay at a discount. In 1960, Mrs. W. F. Grinnan bought Ye Kendall Inn, closed it for repairs, and lived there reclusively until her death in the late 1980s. The inn joined the National Historic Building Registry in 1976. Main Plaza also saw an unusual episode when Major H.C. Wayne of the U.S. Calvary staked camels there during Jefferson Davis's experiment in using camels for calvary, with two Arabs and a Turk overseeing them and training soldiers to ride and care for them.