San Joaquin
County History
History of San Joaquin County, California with Biographical Sketches - Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA - 1923
HOTELS OF OTHER DAYS
CHAPTER XVI
IT is the desire on the part of every progressive citizen to have one or more first class up-to-date hotels in his city for the accommodation and comfort of invited city guests, tourists and those who best enjoy hotel life. A hotel such as this is a good investment for every city as it not only gives class to the town but it advertises the place abroad as a live, up-to-date city. It is not my purpose to treat of the Stockton's hotels of today
In the days of hustle
The days of bustle
The days of '22
but rather to treat in a general manner of the hotels during the first fifteen years of the city's history. Then, as now, there was an urgent desire for hotels, not of first-class build and service such as the Hotel Stockton, but any place that would provide food and shelter, no matter what the quality and price.
The cry was ringing over the earth "Gold in California !" Thousands in a few months landed in the settlement of Tuleburg as it was called, and daily the multitude increased. To feed and lodge these unexpected guests was a serious problem. Something must be done, and done quickly. Suddenly there arose a city of tent hotels, every man his own landlord, cook and dishwasher. The fire of December 24, 1849, swept the canvas town out of existence, and both guest and landlord were for a time homeless.
Baltimore House
At this time there stood a little shack upon the corner of Main and Commerce streets, later the Buell planing mill site, which survived the flames. It was known by the high-sounding title of Baltimore House, and for many months it was Stockton's principal hotel. Erected in November, 1849, of the branches of trees hewn and trimmed to suit the requirements, its rafters were of light scantling covered with canvas; alike were the side walls, while the floor was of three-inch plank. Having an attic story, it was first-class in every respect, but its life was short, and in September 1850, it was for rent its owners declaring, "it is improved by a canvas roof."
Eagle Hotel
Another tavern to bid for the patronage of that day was the Eagle Hotel, a two-story adobe building covered with mission tiles, situated "on Main Street on the second block from the intersection of Center." Surviving the great fire of May 4, 1851, encircled at one time by the flames, it was later converted into a store. Then it was used for an icehouse, and a few years ago the building was torn down to make way for an iron works.
Dickenson House
One of the hotels destroyed in the 1851 fire, at a loss of $30,000 was the Dickenson House, built by Gallant D. Dickenson, Stockton's first alcalde. It was a primitive affair, located on Center Street, between Main and Water (Levee) Streets, and it was the first lodging-house of the Rev. James Woods and his family. Mr. Woods, in describing the hotel, says: "It was a two-story wooden building made by setting boards on end to the height of fourteen or sixteen feet; the upper story was divided into small rooms on each side of a narrow hall; the partitions both of the halls and rooms were cotton domestic, hence the conversation of your neighbor could be heard as distinctly as if in your own room. We were the only family in the hotel, and had a corner room 10x12. The price of board was $5 a day." The building cost several thousands of dollars, and the contractor, Thomas K. Hook, later sheriff of the county, carried from the lumber yard, on his shoulder the top board of the bar. It cost $95. The hotel was leased by Roach & Mason at a rental of $1200 per month, and from the reading of the advertisement we might imagine a Hotel Stockton for it said: "The dining room is superintended by two experienced gentlemen from New York who are not excelled in their line. Our private bedrooms are furnished with all the comforts and conveniences of a New York hotel. The bunks and cots are furnished with good clean beds and servants are always in attendance to wait on gentlemen."
"The lower story was one entire room filled with gambling tables," wrote Woods and gambling, today a vice, was then a virtue. It was for several years licensed by the city officials for revenue purposes, and previous to 1855 the games were carried on in nearly all of the hotels. There was one exception, that of Captain Chapman, a professor of religion, who gave notice that after December 1, 1850, all games would be prohibited. Chapman, conducted what was known as the Temperance, afterwards called the Lexington House, now the jail site, and he stated "that the hotel would be run on temperance principles."
In nearly every hotel one of the principal features—and so advertised—was the bar. The Weber House having the "choicest of liquors," while in the New York Hotel "the bar was supplied with a great variety of the best liquors, juleps, cobblers and punches." The barroom was the most attractive part of the hotel. It contained all of the newspapers of the Coast and the Eastern weeklies, and was warmed in winter by a big stove. There congregated the lodgers of the house and their friends to discuss social affairs, business or politics, and socially pass away the evening hours. Sometimes the scenes in the barroom would be quite lively, pistols would be drawn and bowies flash in the air, those sitting around would pay no attention to the affair unless personally interested. "One night," said Mr. Cutting, "while playing billiards in Cammack's, `Bang! Bang!' two shots were fired, the bullets passing through the partition just over our heads, but we continued playing, giving no attention to the fight."
The Stockton House
The Stockton House, on the site where now stands Masonic Temple, was, in its day, one of the finest buildings in California. It was a three-story building 50x100 feet, surmounted by a central octagon-shaped cupola protected by weather blinds. The house was built by John Doak, Jacob Bonsell, and William Scott, and completed in March, 1850, at a cost of $110,000. The head carpenter Will McK.Carson, later a supervisor of San Joaquin county, received for his work sixteen dollars and his assistants fourteen dollars per day. The lumber cost one dollar per foot, much of it being shipped around Cape Horn. The first story of the building contained a bar and reading-room and dining-room, washroom, toilet and kitchen. The second story contained a parlor and bedrooms, the third story being an open space containing bunks and cots a narrow stairway leading from the street door direct to the second and third stories. The dining-room extended the entire length of the building, and there was given the first dramatic performance and the first ball ever held in Stockton. All of the rooms were of cloth and paper, the bedrooms small in size and hot in summer and cold in winter, for none of the hotels were heated save the barroom and occasionally the ladies' parlor. In these bedrooms ofttimes it was impossible to sleep soundly because of the heat and the busy mosquitoes that merrily sung and pecked the sleeper's face (wire screens were an invention of 1870) and the sleeper's only protection was a mosquito bar with which he covered himself. The furniture of the sleeping-rooms consisted of a bedstead and mattress, two chairs, a small looking glass, with a washstand; in addition the ladies' rooms were supplied with a common washbowl and a pitcher. Lodgers and transients alike, were compelled to use a common toilet and washroom at the rear of the house, washing from a tin washbasin in water pumped by hand from a well and lifted with a dipper from an open water barrel. Governors, Senators and even Representatives of Congress "cleaned up with the common people." The only light was the common candle or small whale oil lamp, with chandeliers in the parlor and barroom, but gas was not in use until 1859, and running water two years later. Even then the water would not flow above the first story. The common slat bedsteads supported a mattress filled with moss, a substance imported from the Southern States and there extensively used. The bolsters were sometimes filled with duck or geese feathers which were plentiful and cheap. In the second-class hotels the mattresses were filled with straw, moss gathered from oak trees or even willow leaves. Spring mattresses were an unknown luxury until 1881, when Gorham of The Weber House advertised that he "had renovated, refitted and refurnished with spring mattresses."
For these accommodations of a first-class hotel, Robinson & Smith, "recently of The Astor House, New York, and The Mansion House, Buffalo," leasing The Stockton House in 1853, charged for board and single room, per week, $16; board alone $12 to $14; breakfast or tea 75c; dinner, $1; cots in the hall-room 50c. The lessees of The Stockton House (the name changed in 1854 to St. Charles) had twelve different managers in five years. In July 1855, the building, together with all the furniture, was for rent by the agent, James A. Shepherd, who married Mrs. Bonsell. Later it was rented by parties who kept open a lodging department and a barroom only. November 22, 1871, the heavens were aglow and the air was filled with a shower of golden rain. In one short hour the old and famous landmark was but a mass of smoldering coals and ashes.
The Magnolia
A like fate befell The Magnolia, which was destroyed in the early morning of December 30, 1871, Charles Mersfelder and his family of nine children, and fifteen lodgers barely saving their lives. The hotel was named after the schooner Magnolia. Her captain, J. C. Morris, sailed the vessel up to Stockton, in April, 1850, anchoring her in Miner Channel, midway between Hunter and El Dorado Streets, and covering her deck with canvas, in June, 1850, he opened a restaurant. Later, over the hull, he built a hotel. The young deep-water captain was an easy landlord with too many friends and without any business qualifications, and in less than three years the hotel was in the sheriff's hands. Again reopening in 1854 with a grand ball, he announced: "Sebastopol is not taken: board and lodging, single rooms $12, double rooms $14; board per week $7, $2 per day, meals 75c. Terms, cash at the end of each week, and no distinction or exception of persons." He remained open until November, 1859, when he died. Highly respected by all classes, he was buried by the Weber Engine Company, of which he was a member, "and the bell of the San Joaquin Engine Company solemnly tolled as the procession passed up the avenue to the city burial ground."
Morris' widow undertook the management of the hotel, but, being unable to conduct it, the hotel closed within a year, and the boarders, who had stuck to it for several years, wandered around seeking new quarters. In 1861 "Uncle John" Andrews, a very popular restaurateur who was then running an eating house on Center Street, took charge also of The Magnolia. He had subsequently opened The Massachusetts Bakery Restaurant, and in different locations he had been burned out four times. On the day of opening, April 8, 1861, he was much surprised and gratified to receive a call of respect from his Center street boarders. Assembling at the restaurant, about 100 in number, preceded by music, they marched up the levee to the hotel, and, heartily welcoming "Uncle John," they were invited in and spent an hour drinking and in social intercourse. Among the guests of this hotel were the circus performers and many of the theatrical profession that frequently visited the city.
The New York Hotel
Among the notable hotels of that day was the New York Hotel on the corner of Channel and Center Streets. In its time it was famous as the assembling place of the Democratic politicians, and the place where Mansfield died. It was opened in August, 1850, by D. W. Lockwood who also managed The Eureka Hotel, San Francisco. The place had five different managers in six years. The last manager was Andrew Lester, who closed the hotel in December, 1855. It remained empty for six years was then converted into a steam saw and planing mill, then a laundry, and was destroyed by fire some years ago. The flood of February, 1852, washing away the only footbridge connecting the peninsula with the mainland, the proprietors of the New York were obliged to run a free ferry for several weeks to accommodate their patrons. Andrew Lester, a great joker and all 'round good fellow, set a choice lunch May 9, 1855. As the announcement indicated: "Mr. White, who flew from the St. Charles Hotel, yesterday, will be served up for lunch today, at The New York Hotel."
This strange notice referred to a Mr. White, who, the day previous, advertised that he would fly from the cupola of the St. Charles Hotel. About 4 o'clock he appeared, wrapped in a white sheet a large grey goose concealed beneath the sheet. Suddenly he threw the bird in the air, and, fluttering to the earth, it was caught by some of Lester's friends, and immediately they ran with the prize to the hotel. The "sold" crowd caught White and ducked him in the channel and one of the leaders in the frolic was Al Rider, who six years later married the daughter of D. R. McLellan, of the Crescent City Hotel.
The Crescent City Hotel
This hotel which took its name from New Orleans, La., the Crescent City, was erected and opened by Joseph Bromeslier and Joseph Hoerschner, in January, 1851. The proprietors that evening gave an entertainment to their friends, and the "festive board was surrounded by many of the leading citizens. Several songs and toasts were given, and among the rest long life and prosperity to the proprietors was drunk with honors." The proprietors were unsuccessful in the hotel business, and, after a trial by two other parties, it was opened on the evening of June 21, 1853, by John P. D. and James W. Wilkins, two young men from Boston, Mass., with a cotillion party, given under the direction of Mayor M. B. Kenny and twenty-two of the leading citizens. The following day the brothers gave a free lunch, stating that they would be happy to see their friends and the public generally at lunch between the hours of 10 a. m. and 1 p. m. Success would have attended them in their efforts, but early in the year their mother died, two months later one of the brothers died, and in January of the following year John P. D. Wilkins' wife also passed away. The surviving partner then closed the hotel and opened a restaurant on the Levee with meals and lodgings each fifty cents and liquor twelve and one-half cents a glass, the former price having been twenty-five cents. In November, 1854, the Crescent City Hotel was opened by D. R. McLellan "and his estimable lady," Mr. McLellan having conducted the Alabama House, Center Street, before the fire of 1851 and later the City Hotel. The business was carried on by Mrs. McLellan as a select boarding house until 1861. The building, 26x50 feet, was then sold to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
The Avenue Hotel
The proprietor of this hotel, Simon Wetterau, was a landlord, stable-keeper and teamster—three in one—and he built and opened the Avenue House, on Weber Avenue, opposite the Babcock engine house, as early as 1853. Wetterau also conducted a stable and owned several mule teams. On July 8, 1861, the stable was set on fire and hotel and stable were destroyed, together with twenty-four horses and mules. They were immediately rebuilt, and a few years later leased by Simon Byer.
The Golden Lion Hotel
One of the employes of the Avenue Hotel was Mrs. Weasson, and soon after her marriage with John Seiler they took charge of the Golden Lion on Channel Street, now the Y. M. C. A. building site. The building was noticeable because of a swinging sign bearing the representation of a lion. They paid John Minges $5000 for the place, and carried on the business for three years, when they sold it to A. Grasberger, the father of Mrs. Jacob Simon, who remained for a time, and in 1860, purchasing the old two-story building on the opposite side of the street, which had formerly been used as a paint shop by Dennis & Tinkham, he converted it into a hotel. The new hotel, the Columbia House, was opened September 7, 1861, Grasberger charging for board and lodging five dollars a week and for board alone four dollars a week. He sold in 1871 to Holman & Schneider, who kept the hotel for two years.
The Gault House
These two Germans then transferred their business interests to the hotel corner of Center and Market Streets, known as the Pacific Hotel. This, the oldest established hotel in the city, was opened in 1850 by John B. Nye and Samuel Geddes, under the name of the Gault House. The building, a story-and-a-half structure, cost $12,000, and in fitting it up the crockery alone cost $800, it being the cheapest grade of today. Mr. Nye also paid out $700 to have the street graded so as to make the house accessible in winter. For the accommodation of teamsters (most of the hotel patronage was of the teamster class) Mr. Nye conducted a stable adjoining the hotel. The Gault House or Pacific House was conducted and leased by different parties until 1881, when it was purchased by H. C. Holman for $10,000, he and Schneider having leased the hotel the seven previous years. The name was then changed to the United States Hotel. August 20, 1881, it was destroyed by fire. The present building, a three-story brick, was immediately erected.
The Stockton Bakery Hotel
Another hotel quite as ancient as the Gault House was the Stockton Bakery Hotel, northeast corner of Channel and California Streets. It was opened in 1850 by Peter Rothenbush and Charles Umlauff. Umlauff soon retired, and a few months later, in June, 1852, Rothenbush innocently came near getting into trouble with a local vigilance committee. They accused him of harboring and secreting "Sydney ducks" or Australian criminals, who had been committing many crimes around Stockton. Pete had no knowledge of the character of his boarders, and in a card he denied the accusation of harboring criminals, and as proof of his innocence he stated that he had called the attention of the sheriff to two persons in his house, whom he suspected. This hotel, like unto the history of all the hotels, changed hands many times in its first few years. Leased by Joseph Heinze in 1860, he reduced the price of board to five dollars a week. It finally came into the hands of John Henderson, was destroyed by fire, and he, changing the name to the Grand Central, erected a three-story wooden building and managed it until his death. While the Stockton Bakery was in existence they announced mealtime by the ringing of a bell at 6, 12 and 6 o'clock every day of the week, and, as it could be heard for many blocks around, it was for a time the town clock of half the population.
The Cottage Home
The Cottage Home, with its swinging sign, bearing the crude painting of a cottage, was established in July 1851, by Elam Dye, a rather eccentric individual, who declared that he was "prepared to accommodate the public, both man and beast, with a good stable, plenty of hay and roast beef, and $2 per day for dinner. He will thank Mr. Public to come and see." Two years later Thomas Wilson advertised the furniture and all of the movable fixtures for sale. Then Charles A. Mead leased the house, and later, under the name of the Eagle Hotel, it was managed by William Colnon, father of Edward Colnon, the newspaper man. In 1861 the owners, Sanders & Hook, intending to improve, sold the building to E. L. Houche. It was sawed into halves and removed to El Dorado Street, where it now stands. The Stockton Savings & Loan bank now stands on the former site of the Cottage Home.
The Weber House
Stockton's best and finest hotel for nearly twenty years was the Weber House, a three-story brick building with 150 rooms, erected in 1853 at a cost of $50,000 by Dr. R. K. Reid and J. M. Warner. Building it seemed a speculation, as none cared to take charge, but on December 1st it was opened by W. W. Warner. A banquet was given that evening with Captain Weber as toastmaster, and a large company enjoyed the feast. "The table will be supplied with every delicacy of the season, and all the substantials the market affords." We can well believe this, judging by the dinner set before their guests Christmas day, 1853. It cannot be duplicated today as a whole by any hotel in the state, and it is but a sample of the tables of that day, nearly all kinds of foods being cheaper in price than at the present time. The following was the bill of fare: Soup, Julien; fish, perch, etc.; mutton, ham, roast veal, beef and pork; game, turkey, geese, duck, teal and canvasback, chicken , elk, venison, bear; entrees, cutlets a la Milanese, jambolaye New Orleans style, macaroni, giblet pie, chicken salad, stewed mushrooms; vegetables, potatoes boiled or mashed, boiled onions, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, cauliflower, turnips, squash, beets, lettuce; pastry, plum pudding, sago and bread pudding; pies, mince, grape, plum, cherry, peach; dessert, blanc mange a la rose; blanc mange lemon, wine or brandy jelly; extras, eggs, oysters.
The building was heavily mortgaged to John Dillon, and was soon in the sheriff's hands. March 20, 1855, it was bid in by the mortgagee for $12,000. Colonel Manning leased the building in 1855, in 1858 Dillon & Gross conducted it, and in 1860 Gorham & Sperry took charge, Sperry dying in December of that year. At this time the hotel was doing a good business, and from April 20, 1860, to June 21, 1861, a total of 6815 persons were registered. In this hotel some of the greatest professionals celebrities and famous persons of both state and nation have been guests, among them Edwin Booth, Charles Keene, Matilda Herron, Mrs. Bowers, T. Starr King, Bayard Taylor, Horace Greeley and a host of others that might be named.
The Yosemite House
The Weber House was Stockton's only first-class hotel for nearly twenty years, but in 1869 it was superseded by the Yosemite—at the time it was erected one of the best in the state. The building, with a frontage of 102 feet on Main Street, with two wings having having a depth of 60 feet and a central depth of 100 feet, was commenced in October, 1868, and completed in July, 1869, by Hodgkins & Hall, at a cost of $40,000. The first story contained a reading room and office, together with a barber shop and bathrooms, a saloon, kitchen and dining-room capable of seating at party tables 110 persons. The second floor comprised a public parlor and ten private parlors or suites of rooms with oak, rosewood and walnut furniture, marble washbowls and brussels carpets. The sleeping rooms were all well-ventilated and were equipped with gas; running water and call bells. Speaking tubes in each hallway communicated with the main office. The bedrooms at the time commanded an extensive view of the city and county. The hotel was formally opened July 5, 1869, by Alexander McBean, and the owner of the property that day gave a fine banquet to some 300 citizens and friends. The Eureka Engine Company, of which Henry Hodgkins was a member, had a dinner there the day previous, Sunday July 4th. The hotel was never a paying proposition and passing through many hands the hotel was closed when the Hotel Stockton was erected, and converted into a lodging house. Finally David S. Rosenbaum purchased the property and remodelled the entire front of the building in the modern style of architecture. The Hotel Stockton and the Hotel Clark, two fine up-to-date hotels erected during the past few years, are well known and scarcely within the range of history.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler