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[[Image:downtwn1$palace-hotel-1887.jpg]]
'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''
 
''by Gray Brechin''
 
[[Image:Palace Hotel Opening October, 1875 1000px.jpg|720px]]
 
'''Palace Hotel opening, October, 1875.'''
 
[[Image:Palace Hotel c 1890s.jpg|800px]]


'''Palace Hotel, 1887, corner of Market and New Montgomery Streets.'''
'''Palace Hotel, c. 1890s.'''


''Photo: Bancroft Library, Berkeley, CA''
''Photo: provenance unknown, via Facebook''


[[Image:Downtwn1$palace-hotel$courtyard itm$palace-hotel-court.jpg]]
[[Image:PH 02 725.jpg|720px|thumb]]


'''Palace Hotel courtyard, 1880s.'''
'''Palace Hotel courtyard, 1880s.'''


[[BANK OF CALIFORNIA and WILLIAM RALSTON|William Ralston]]'s Palace Hotel was to be the opulent capstone of his career and ego. When completed in 1875, it was quite literally the grandest hotel in the world. Its luxurious appointments, high-tech gadgetry, Parisian restaurants, and tiered central lightwell placed it in a league with the finest hotels of Vienna, Paris, and New York. One historian noted that "the state of California was run from the Palace bar," though he might have added several other Western states, territories, and Hawaii as well. Cost overruns ultimately drove the price of the Palace to nearly three times the original estimate. For San Franciscans, the hotel proved that their city had become world-class in only 25 years.
''Image: [http://thepalacehotel.org/ A Brief Illustrated History of the Palace Hotel]''
 
[[BANK OF CALIFORNIA and WILLIAM RALSTON|William Ralston]]'s [http://thepalacehotel.org/ Palace Hotel] was to be the opulent capstone of his career and ego. When completed in 1875, it was quite literally the grandest hotel in the world. Its luxurious appointments, high-tech gadgetry, Parisian restaurants, and tiered central light well placed it in a league with the finest hotels of Vienna, Paris, and New York. One historian noted that "the state of California was run from the Palace bar," though he might have added several other Western states, territories, and Hawaii as well. Cost overruns ultimately drove the price of the Palace to nearly three times the original estimate. For San Franciscans, the hotel proved that their city had become world-class in only 25 years.
 
[[Image:Palace Hotel, San Francisco, by Watkins, Carleton E., 1829-1916.png|720px|thumb]]
 
'''Palace Hotel, 1880s, by Carleton Watkins.'''


The Palace was also approximately four times too large for Ralston's city. It would not fill for decades.
The Palace was also approximately four times too large for Ralston's city. It would not fill for decades.
[[Image:Palace-hotel1.jpg|720px]]
'''Palace Hotel, rebuilt after 1906 earthquake and fire.'''


The current version was rebuilt in 1909. When much of San Francisco was razed in the earthquake and fire of 1906, San Franciscans mourned the loss of the Palace Hotel more than that of any other building. The old Palace Hotel, a monumental edifice, had come to symbolize the grandeur (some would say the pretensions) of Victorian San Francisco. Its immense glass-covered courtyard was a classically San Francisco innovation, exemplifying San Franciscans' penchant for combining indoor and outdoor spaces in order to experience nature without suffering the chilly, fog-laden wind. After its destruction in 1906, the Palace was rebuilt, and its glass-covered courtyard, a nearly perfect replica of the old one, converted into a dining room. According to Professor Arthur Chandler, the Palace Hotel dining room is a brilliant reconstruction of a 19th century public space; having a meal there is about as close as you can come to physically inhabiting 19th-century San Francisco.
The current version was rebuilt in 1909. When much of San Francisco was razed in the earthquake and fire of 1906, San Franciscans mourned the loss of the Palace Hotel more than that of any other building. The old Palace Hotel, a monumental edifice, had come to symbolize the grandeur (some would say the pretensions) of Victorian San Francisco. Its immense glass-covered courtyard was a classically San Francisco innovation, exemplifying San Franciscans' penchant for combining indoor and outdoor spaces in order to experience nature without suffering the chilly, fog-laden wind. After its destruction in 1906, the Palace was rebuilt, and its glass-covered courtyard, a nearly perfect replica of the old one, converted into a dining room. According to Professor Arthur Chandler, the Palace Hotel dining room is a brilliant reconstruction of a 19th century public space; having a meal there is about as close as you can come to physically inhabiting 19th-century San Francisco.
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''--Gray Brechin''
''--Gray Brechin''


'''Murder in the Presidential Suite?'''
[[Image:PH Garden Court 1904 sw.jpg|720px]]
 
'''Garden court of the hotel in 1904, after the original carriage entrance had been converted to a restaurant and lounge.'''
 
''Image: [http://thepalacehotel.org/ A Brief Illustrated History of the Palace Hotel]''
[[Image:downtwn1$palace-hotel-1996.jpg]]
 
'''Palace Hotel interior 1996'''


The Presidential Suite, Sheraton Palace (formerly Palace Hotel). 639 Market Street at New Montgomery. August 2, 1923.
''Photo: Chris Carlsson''


President Warren G. Harding died under mysterious circumstances in this room, in the wake of the Teapot Dome scandal. Some suspect oil-related conspiracy, while others suggest that Mrs. Harding may have put the President out of his misery in order to save him from the shame and degradation of the scandal. In honor of the late President's legendary corruption, the golf course next to [[Lake Merced a 'shipwreck'|Lake Merced]], where many a sleazy deal is cut, bears the name “Harding Park.”
[[Image:downtwn1$palace-hotel-1887.jpg]]


Harding wasn't the only head of state to die at the Palace Hotel. King David Kalakaua, the reigning monarch of Hawaii, died at the Palace in 1891.
'''Palace Hotel, 1887, corner of Market and New Montgomery Streets.'''


''--Dr. Weirde''
''Photo: Bancroft Library, Berkeley, CA''


[[Image:downtwn1$palace-hotel-1996.jpg]]
[[Image:Grand Victoria and Palace Hotels c 1880s.jpg|800px]]


'''Palace Hotel interior 1996'''
'''Grand Victoria and Palace Hotels on either side of New Montgomery Street along south side of Market, c. 1880s.'''


''Photo: Chris Carlsson''
''Photo: provenance unknown, via Facebook''




[[ON DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT | Prev. Document]]  [[Produce Market |Next Document]]
[[ON DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT | Prev. Document]]  [[Produce Market |Next Document]]


[[category:Downtown]] [[category:buildings]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:1900s]]
[[category:Downtown]] [[category:buildings]] [[category:1870s]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1880s]]

Latest revision as of 12:36, 31 May 2018

Historical Essay

by Gray Brechin

Palace Hotel Opening October, 1875 1000px.jpg

Palace Hotel opening, October, 1875.

Palace Hotel c 1890s.jpg

Palace Hotel, c. 1890s.

Photo: provenance unknown, via Facebook

PH 02 725.jpg

Palace Hotel courtyard, 1880s.

Image: A Brief Illustrated History of the Palace Hotel

William Ralston's Palace Hotel was to be the opulent capstone of his career and ego. When completed in 1875, it was quite literally the grandest hotel in the world. Its luxurious appointments, high-tech gadgetry, Parisian restaurants, and tiered central light well placed it in a league with the finest hotels of Vienna, Paris, and New York. One historian noted that "the state of California was run from the Palace bar," though he might have added several other Western states, territories, and Hawaii as well. Cost overruns ultimately drove the price of the Palace to nearly three times the original estimate. For San Franciscans, the hotel proved that their city had become world-class in only 25 years.

Palace Hotel, San Francisco, by Watkins, Carleton E., 1829-1916.png

Palace Hotel, 1880s, by Carleton Watkins.

The Palace was also approximately four times too large for Ralston's city. It would not fill for decades.

Palace-hotel1.jpg

Palace Hotel, rebuilt after 1906 earthquake and fire.

The current version was rebuilt in 1909. When much of San Francisco was razed in the earthquake and fire of 1906, San Franciscans mourned the loss of the Palace Hotel more than that of any other building. The old Palace Hotel, a monumental edifice, had come to symbolize the grandeur (some would say the pretensions) of Victorian San Francisco. Its immense glass-covered courtyard was a classically San Francisco innovation, exemplifying San Franciscans' penchant for combining indoor and outdoor spaces in order to experience nature without suffering the chilly, fog-laden wind. After its destruction in 1906, the Palace was rebuilt, and its glass-covered courtyard, a nearly perfect replica of the old one, converted into a dining room. According to Professor Arthur Chandler, the Palace Hotel dining room is a brilliant reconstruction of a 19th century public space; having a meal there is about as close as you can come to physically inhabiting 19th-century San Francisco.

--Gray Brechin

PH Garden Court 1904 sw.jpg

Garden court of the hotel in 1904, after the original carriage entrance had been converted to a restaurant and lounge.

Image: A Brief Illustrated History of the Palace Hotel Downtwn1$palace-hotel-1996.jpg

Palace Hotel interior 1996

Photo: Chris Carlsson

Downtwn1$palace-hotel-1887.jpg

Palace Hotel, 1887, corner of Market and New Montgomery Streets.

Photo: Bancroft Library, Berkeley, CA

Grand Victoria and Palace Hotels c 1880s.jpg

Grand Victoria and Palace Hotels on either side of New Montgomery Street along south side of Market, c. 1880s.

Photo: provenance unknown, via Facebook


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