There’s no a single motive why historic properties and regional landmarks of the past are shed. Occasionally it’s earthquakes, fires or urban renewal initiatives. Whatsoever the motive, most of the Santa Rosa hotels showcased in this photograph gallery are absent now with a number of exceptions — like the Western Lodge constructing that nonetheless stands nowadays in Railroad Square.
The very first hotel in town was the Santa Rosa Pioneer Resort, set up in 1853 at the corner of Key and First streets. Boarding and lodging was $5 for each week, meals had been 25 cents and there was an adjacent backyard garden, according to a surviving handbill. It was later on transformed into a blacksmith shop.
Also on Major Avenue through the late 1800s was the Grand Lodge. One ad from the 1880s boasted of the Grand Hotel’s 100 big and elegantly furnished rooms, and “a first-course household in all respects.” Nightly fees ranged from 50 cents to 1 dollar.
One more 100-room resort was the Occidental Resort at Fourth and B streets, which marketed “free coach and carriage to and from all trains” through the 1880s.
Just a hop away was Lodge Santa Rosa on 508 Fourth St., crafted in 1908 as the Overton Lodge. It was demolished in the course of the early 1970s due to urban renewal endeavours and as the development of the Santa Rosa Plaza commenced.
A 1973 editorial in The Push Democrat acknowledged the hotel’s disappearance and history and hopes for the future use of its place in “a new, revitalized downtown.” (It was also known as Santa Rosa Hotel.)
“There was a time when the social, fraternal and civic lifestyle revolved around the Santa Rosa Resort. It was the scene of annual banquets, assistance club meetings and political rallies. Its all-night time coffee shop was a most loved gathering position for Santa Rosa’s nocturnal men and women,” the editorial said.
The Lebanon Resort, also regarded as the Riley household, is also long gone. It was a mansion at 426 Mendocino Ave. then transformed into a hotel that operated until finally the 1910s. It is unclear when it was demolished.
See the gallery earlier mentioned for pics of Santa Rosa’s overlooked hotels.