The Holbrooke Hotel is located in Grass Valley

Grass Valley, California

-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Grass Valley had a population of 12,860. The population density was 2,711.3 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Grass Valley was 11,493 White, 46 African American, 208 Native American, 188 Asian, 9 Pacific Islander, 419 from other...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, USA. It is notable as the oldest hotel that has been in continuous operation in California's Mother Lode

Mother Lode

Mother lode is a principal vein or zone of veins of gold or silver ore. The term probably came from a literal translation of the Spanish veta madre, a term common in old Mexican mining...

. The hotel was built in 1862 in mid-19th century Mother Lode masonry architectural style, and incorporated the Golden Gate Saloon which has been in continuous operation since 1852.

History

The original building, constructed in 1852 by Stephen and Clara Smith, was a saloon, the Golden Gate Saloon. The following year, a single-story annex, the Exchange Hotel, was added at the back of the saloon. The fire of 1855 burned down the saloon, but it was rebuilt with fieldstone and a brick facade. The Exchange Hotel was caught in a fire in 1862, after which it was renovated into a two-story structure. In 1879, it was named the Holbrooke Hotel after the owner, D. P. Holbrooke. The hotel continues to be privately owned.

Several notable people stayed at the hotel including “Gentleman Jim” Corbett

James J. Corbett

James John "Gentleman Jim" Corbett was an Irish-American heavyweight boxing champion, best known as the man who defeated the great John L. Sullivan. He also coached boxing at the Olympic Club in San Francisco...

, Lotta Crabtree

Lotta Crabtree

Lotta Mignon Crabtree was an American actress, entertainer and comedian. She was also a significant philanthropist....

, Bob Fitzsimmons

Bob Fitzsimmons

Robert James "Bob" Fitzsimmons , was a British boxer who made boxing history as the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating Gentleman Jim Corbett, the man who beat John L. Sullivan, and is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the Lightest heavyweight...

, Bret Harte

Bret Harte

Francis Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.- Life and career :...

, Jack London

Jack London

John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...

, Lola Montez

Lola Montez

Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld , better known by the stage name Lola Montez, was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a "Spanish dancer", courtesan and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who made her Countess of Landsfeld. She used her influence to institute liberal...

, Emma Nevada

Emma Nevada

Emma Nevada was an American operatic soprano particularly known for her performances in operas by Bellini and Donizetti and the French composers Ambroise Thomas, Charles Gounod, and Léo Delibes...

, Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

, and three US Presidents, James Garfield

James Garfield

James Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...

, Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

, and Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...

.

Description

The hotel has 27 rooms and is 19400 square feet (1,802.3 m²) in size. The hotel includes a restaurant whose chef gets mushrooms and wild lettuce from local State Park Rangers

California State Park Rangers

California State Park Peace Officers are fully sworn Peace Officers who perform a wide variety of law enforcement activities...

. The interior includes copper clad walls, mahogany wood, Italian alabaster, and marble. It is furnished with globe chandeliers, green library lamps, and clawfoot bathtubs. The bar in the saloon was shipped around Cape Horn

Cape Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...

.

Historical landmark

The Nevada County

Nevada County, California

Nevada County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of California, in the Mother Lode country. As of 2010 its population was 98,764. The county seat is Nevada City.-History:Nevada County was created in 1851 from parts of Yuba County....

 hotel became a California Historical Landmark

California Historical Landmark

California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...

, #914, on March 18, 1978. Another historical marker was placed on the building on September 25, 1965 by E Clampus Vitus

E Clampus Vitus

The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus is a fraternal organization dedicated to the study and preservation of Western heritage, especially the history of the Mother Lode and gold mining regions of the area...

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