History of California, Volume VI, Part 21

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 816

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Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mission st presented the best exit south-westward, for Market st re- mained obstructed long after 1856 by several ridges, one hill at the corner of Dupont st alone measuring 89 ft in height. The hill at Second st, fiercely contested by squatters in the early fifties against Woodworth, the vigilance

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MARKET STREET.

Dupont street bore a more sedate appearance, with its mixture of shops and residences, its armory at Jackson street for the first city guard, and its land- marks in Richardson's casa grande on the site of his tent, the first habitation in Yerba Buena, and in Leese's house, the first proper building of the pueblo, both at the Clay-street corners below the post-office. Stockton street, stretching from Sacramento to Green streets, presented the neatest cluster of dwellings, and Powell street was the abode of churches; for of the six temples in operation in the middle of 1850, three graced its sides, and two stood upon cross-streets within half a block. Mason street, above it, was really the western limit of the city, as Green street was the northern. Beyond Mason street ran the trail to the presidio, past scattered cottages, cabins, and sheds, midst dairies and gardens, with a branch path

president, had by that time vanished into the bay. Nevertheless, there were a few early occupants on the upper Market st. At the Stockton and Ellis junction J. Sullivan had a cottage, Merrill one on the later Jesuit college site, and on Mason st near Eddy, Hy. Gerke of viticultural fame rejoiced in an at- tractive two-story peaked-roof residence; near by lived a French gardener. This was the centre of Saint Ann Valley, through which led a less-used trail to the mission, by way of Bush and Stockton sts, passing Judge Burritt's house and Dr Gates' at the s. w. corner of Geary and Stockton sts, facing the high sand hill which covered the present Union square. At the s. w. end of this square rose a three-story laundry. The site of the present city hall, at the junction of McAllister st, the authorities in Feb. 1850 set aside for tlie Yerba Buena cemetery, Ver Mehr's Checkered Life, 344, which had first existed at the bay terminus of Vallejo st, and subsequently for a brief time on the north-west slope toward North Beach, near Washington square. Benton, in Hayes' Cal. Notes, v. 60. The new site was the dreariest of them all, relieved by a solitary manzanita with blood-red stalk midst the stnuted shrubbery.

From the cemetery a path led past C. V. Gillespie's house to Mission st, at Sixth st, where began a bridge for crossing the marsh extending to Eighth st. To the left, at the s. w. corner of Harrison and Sixth, or Simmons st, Russ, the jeweller, had a country residence which was soon opened as a pleas- ure garden, especially for Germans. John Center, the later capitalist, was a gardener in the vicinity. At the mouth of Mission creek lived Rosset. Beyond the bridge Stepnen C. Massett, 'Jeemes Pipes,' had for a time a cottage. Then came the Grizzly road-side inn, near Potter st, with its chained bear. Further baek stood the Half-way house of Tom Hayes, with inviting shrubbery. Near the present Woodward's Gardens a brook was crossed, after which the road was clear to the mission, where a number of dwellings clustered round the low adobe church, venerable in its dilapidation Valencia, Noe, Guerrero, Haro, Bernal, whose names are preserved in streets and hills around, and C. Brown, Denniston, Nuttman, and Jack Powers, were among the residents. The centre of attraction was the Mansion house where Bob Rid. ley and C. V. Stuart dispensed milk punches to crowds of cavaliers, to whoni the frequent Mexican attire gave a picturesque coloring.

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SAN FRANCISCO.

to the Marine Hospital on Filbert street, and another to the North Beach anchorage, where speculators were planning a wharf for attracting settlement in this direction.

The accommodations offered to arrivals in 1849 were most precarious in character. Any shed was con- sidered fit for a lodging-house, by placing a line of bunks along the sides, and leaving the occupant fre- quently to provide his own bed-clothes.21 Such crude arrangements prevailed to some extent also at the hotels, of which there were several. The first enti- tled to the name was the City Hotel, a story-and-a- half adobe building, erected in 1846 on the plaza,22 followed in 1848 by the noted Parker House,23 the phoenix of many fires, and in 1849 by a large number of others,2ª

21 Such a shed, with 'crates' along the walls, adjoined the City hotel. Crosby's Events, MS., 13. Bartlett, Stat., MS., 9, mentions three tiers of bunks in one room. Many were glad to remain on board the vessel which brought them.

22 On s. w. corner of Clay and Kearny sts. The half-story consisted of gable garrets beneath the tile roof. It had a railed porch, and square, deep- silled windows. Parker had reopened it in July 1848. Larkin's Doc., vi. 144. Bayard Taylor obtained a garret there in 1849. Eldorado, 55. See also Merrill's Stat., MS., 3. The lease of $16,000 a year granted in 1848 left a large profit by subdivisions and subrenting. Alta Cal., Sept. 21, 1851, and other current journals.

23 On the east side of the plaza, near Washington st, where the old city hall now stands. It was a two-story-and-a-half frame building with a front- age of 60 feet, begun in the autumn of 1848, and still in the builder's hands in April 1849, when lumber cost $600 per 1,000 feet. Little's Stat., MS., 3; Grimshaw's Nar., MS., 14. It rented for $9,000, and subsequently for $15,000 per month, half of the sum paid by gamblers who occupied the second floor. Subleases brought $50,000 profit. Four days after its sale, on Dec. 20, 1849, it was burned. By May 4, 1850, it had been rebuilt at a cost of $10,000, only to be destroyed the day of its completion. The lower floor was again in operation by May 27th. The rebuilding, including the Jenny Lind theatre, cost $100,000. It was once more reduced to ashes on the fire anniversary in the following year. Within a week lumber was on the ground for rebuild- ing. Alta Cal., May 13, 1851; Henshaw's Stat., MS., 1-2; Buffum's Six Months, 121-2; Woods' Sixteen Mo., 46. The cost of the first building was placed at $30,000. Alta Cal., May 27, 1850.

24 Broadway and Fremont hotels near Clark Point landing; St Francis, s. w. corner Clay and Dupont, a four-story building formed from several cottages; no gambling; managed in 1850 by Parker; ravaged by a solitary fire on Oct. 22, 1850; Ohio house on Jackson between Kearny and Dupont; German house on Dupont near Washington; Muller's, in Townsend avenue, on Washington; American hotel, with daily business of $300; U. S. hotel of Mrs King, claiming to accommodate 200 lodgers; Howard hotel; Merchants' hotel of Dearborn and Sherman; Colonnade house of Wm Conway on Kearny; Ward house on the Clay-st side of the plaza; Brown's hotel; Portsmouth house of E. P. Jones; G. Denecke's house on the corner of

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HISTORIC HOTELS.

many of which were lodging-houses, with restaurants attached. The latter presented a variety even greater than the other in methods and nationalities of owners, cooks, and waiters, or rather stewards, for where the servant was as good as the master the former term was deemed disrespectful. From the cheap and neat Chinese houses, marked by triangular yellow flags, wherein a substantial meal could be had for a dollar, the choice extended to the epicurean Delmonico, where five times the amount would obtain only a meagre dinner. Intermediate ranged several German, French, and Italian establishments, with their differ- ent specialties by the side of plain Yankee kitchens, English lunch-houses, and the representative fonda of the Hispano element, many in tents and some in omnibuses, which proving unavailable for traffic were converted to other uses.25 Little mattered the na-

Pacific and Sansome; Sutter hotel and restaurant by Ambrose and Ken- dall; Barnum house of Mitchell, Carmon, and Spooner, opened on Sept. 15, 1850, on Commercial between Montgomery and Kearny; Ontario house; Stockton hotel of Starr and Brown, on Long Wharf; Healey house, opened in Dec. 1849, claimed to be then the most substantial house in the city; Graham house, imported bodily from Baltimore; Congress hall used for ac- commodation. The first really substantial hotel was the Union, of brick, four and a half stories, opened in the autumn of 1850 by Selover & Co., a firm composed of Alderman Selover, Middleton, and E. V. Joice. It was built by J. W. Priestly, after the plan of H. N. White, the brick-work embracing 500,000 bricks, contracted for completion within 26 days. The chandeliers, gilt frames, etc., fitted by J. B. M. Crooks and J. S. Caldwell. It extended between Clay and Washington for 160 feet, with a frontage of 29 feet on the east side of Kearny. It contained 100 rooms. The cost, including furni- ture, was $250,000. Burned in May 1851, and subsequently it became a less fashionable resort. The construction of the more successful Oriental was begun in Nov. 1850, at the corner of Bush and Battery. Jones', at the cor- ner of Sansome and California, first opened as a hotel by Capt. Folsom, but unsuccessfully, was soon converted into the Tehama house, much frequented by military men. For these and other hotels, I refer to Alta Cal., May 27, 1850; Oct. 23, 1853; Mar. 8, 1867; Pac. News, Nov. 6, 8, Dec. 6, 22, 25, 27, 1849; Jan. 1, 3, 5, Apr. 26, 27, Oct. 22, Nov. 9, 1850; Cal. Courier, Sept. 12, 14, 1850; S. F. Picayune, Aug. 17, 30, Sept. 12, 16, 1850; S. F. Annals, 647 et seq .; Bauer's Stat., MS., 2; Kimball's Dir., 1850.

25 The Bay hotel (Pet. Guevil) and the Illinois house (S. Anderson), on Battery st; the Bruner house, Lovejoy's hotel (J. H. Brown), Lafayette hotel (L. Guiraud) and the Albion house (Croxton & Ward), on Broadway st; on Pacific st were the Marine hotel (C. C. Stiles), Hotel du Commerce (C. Ren- ault), Crescent house (Sam. Harding), Planters' hotel (J. Stigall), McIntire house and the Waverly house (B. F. Bucknell); on Jackson st were the Com- mercial hotel (J. Ford & Co.), Dalton house (Smith & Hasty), E. Pascual's Fonda Mejicana, the Philadelphia house and J. Cotter & Co.'s California house. On Commercial st T. M. Rollins kept the Kennebec house, and P. S.

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SAN FRANCISCO.

ture of the accommodation to miners fresh from rough camps, or to immigrants long imprisoned within foul hulks, most of them half-starved on poorer provis- ions. To them almost any restaurant or shelter seemed for a while at least a haven of comfort. Nor were all well provided with funds, and like the prudent ones who had come with the determination to toil and save, they preferred to leave such luxuries as eggs at seventy-five cents to a dollar each, quail and duck at from two to five dollars, salads one and a half to two dollars, and be content with the small slice of plain boiled beef, indifferent bread, and worse coffee served at the dollar places,26 and with one of the Gordon the house bearing the name of the street. On Montgomery st stood the Star house (C. Webster), Irving house, Eureka hotel (J. H. Davis & Co. ), Montgomery house, Cape Cod house (Crocker, Evans, & Taylor). Sansome st contained the Merrimac house (Williams & Johnson), New England house (W. B. Wilton), and the New Bedford honse (Jno. Britnell), three names likely to attract the attention of newly arrived wanderers from the far East. On Kearny st were the Adams (Jno. Adams), mansion (Mrs E. Gordon), Mariposa (B. Vallafon), Crescent City (Winley & Lear), and San José houses, and the Graham hotel, which latter became the city hall in 1851. On Dupont st I find the Globe hotel (Mrs B. V. Koch), and the Albion (B. Keesing) Harm's (H.) and Excellent houses. On Clay st H. Bush kept the house which took his name. On Sacramento st was Bailey & Smith's Byron house, and California st contained the Murray (Jas Hair), Duxbury (A. Marshall), and Elephant (A. G. Oakes) houses. Richelieu hotel was on Pine st, and over in the Happy and Pleasant Valley region the Isthmus hotel proffered hospitality. At or near the mission were wayside resorts, such as the Grizzly, near Potter st, and the Mansion house of Bob. Ridley and C. V. Stuart. On Sacramento st were Raphael's restaurant and that of Marye. On Kearny st bet. Clay and Sacramento were Mme Rosalie's restaurant, and Swan and Thompson's New York bakery. Wm Meyer kept a coffee-house on Jackson st at the water-front, and Nash, Patten, and Thayer's Kremlin restaurant and saloon stood on Commercial st. Besides four Chinese restaurants, on Pacific, Jackson, and Washington st near the water-front, charging $1 for a dinner, Cassin's Stat., MS., 14, there were American restaurants at the same price, as Smyth Clark's. Barlett's Stat., MS., 8. One on Broadway was in full blast while its ruins were still smoking after the first great fire. Garniss' Early Days, MS., 19. There were the U. S. and California houses on the plaza, besides a French restaurant, whose counterpart existed also on Dupont st, not far from a large German establishment on Pacific st. Then there were the classical Gothic hall and Alhambra, Tortini's of Italian savor, the Empire, Elleard's on Clay st, by Tom Harper, Clayton's near by, and a number of others, some advertised in Alta Cal., May 27, 1850, etc., and Pac. News. Wood- ward of the later noted What Cheer house kept a coffee shop near the post- office on Pike toward Sacramento st. S. F. Bull., Jan. 23, 1867. Many of the hotels mentioned above combined restaurants and lunching-places in con- nection with drinking-saloons and other establishments.

26 This was the meal at City hotel, says Crosby, Events, MS., 14. Some- times sea-biscuits and dumplings would be added. Some of the boarders kept a private bottle of pickles, or bought a potato for 25 cents. The bill of fare at Ward's or Delmonico's read: Oxtail or St Julien soup, 75c. to $1;

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WILD SPECULATION.

dozen or fifty bunks in a lodging-room at from six to twenty dollars a week; for a room even at the ordinary hotel cost from $25 to $100 a week, while at Ward's it rose to $250.27 Offices and stores were leased for sums ranging as high as six thousand dollars a month, and a building like the Parker House, on the plaza, brought in subrenting large profits upon the $15,000 monthly lease.

It was the period of fancy prices, and houses and lots shared in the rule. When the gold-seekers who rushed away from San Francisco in 1848 returned in the autumn and found that their abandoned lots had, under the reviving faith in the city, earned for many of them more than they obtained from the Sierra with its boasted treasures, then speculation took a fresh start. When, with the ensuing year, immigrants poured in; when ships crowded the harbor; when tents and sheds multiplied by the thousand, and houses

salmon or fish in small variety, $1.50; entrees, of stews, sausage, meats, etc., $1 to $1.50; roast meats ranged from beef, the cheapest, at $1, to veni- sion at $1.50; vegetables, limited in range and supply, were 50c .; pies, pud- dings, and fruit, 75c .; omelettes, $2. The wine list was less exorbitant, owing to large importations, for although ale, porter, and cider were quoted at $2, claret, sherry, and Madeira stood at $2, $3, and $4 respect- ively, while champagne and old port could be had in pint bottles at $2.50 and $1.75; whiskey and brandy were very low, likewise raisins, cigars, etc. For prices, see Schenck's Vig., MS., 20; Pac. News, Dec. 4, 1849; Jan. 12, 1850; Taylor's Eldorado, i. 116; S. J. Pioneer, Aug. 16, 1879; Taylor's Spec. Press, 500-3. Toward winter the price for board rose from $20 to $35 a week. A moderate charge for board and lodging was $150 a month. Food was abundant and cheap enough at the sources of supply; the cost lay princi- pally in getting it to market. The great ranchos supplied unlimited quanti- ties of good beef; bays, rivers, and woods were alive with game; the finest of fish, wild fowl, bear-meat, elk, antelope, and venison could be had for the taking; but vegetables, fruit, and flour were then not so plentiful, and had to be brought from a greater distance.

27 Schenck, Vig., MS., 20, paid $21 a week for a bunk on the enclosed porch of an adobe house on Dupont st. For room rents, see Garniss' Stat., MS., 11; Olney's Fig., MS., 3; Sherman's Mem., i. 67; Larkin's Doc., vi. 41, etc. The ground-rent for a house ranged from $100 to $500 a month. Buffum's Six Months, 121. A cellar 12 ft square could be had for a law-office at $250 a month. For an office on Washington above Montgomery st $1,000 was asked. Brown's Stat., MS., 11. For desk-room of five feet at the end of a counter, $100 a month. Sutton's Stat., MS., 3. For their Miners' Bank on the N. W. corner Kearny and Washington sts, Wright & Co. paid $6,000 monthly. A stor . 20 feet in front rented for $3,500 a month. Yet the U. S. hotel rental was said to be only $3,000. In the tent structure adjoining, the Eldorado, sin- gle rooms for gambling brought $180 a day; mere tables in hotels for gam- bling $30 a day.

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SAN FRANCISCO.

shot up like mushrooms-speculation became wild. Lots, which a year before could not be sold at any price, because the town had been left without either sellers or buyers, now found ready purchasers at from ten to a thousand times their cost.28

More than one instance is recorded of property sell- ing at $40,000 or more, which two years before cost fifteen or sixteen dollars, and of the sudden enrichment of individual owners and speculators. Well known is the story of Hicks, the old sailor. The gold excite- ment recalled to his memory the unwilling purchase in Yerba Buena of a lot, which on coming back in 1849 he found worth a fortune. His son sold half of it some years later for nearly a quarter of a million.29 Vice-consul Leidesdorff died in 1848, leaving property then regarded as inadequate to pay his liabilities of over $40,000. A year later its value had so ad- vanced so as to give to the heirs an amount larger than the debt, while agents managed to make fortunes by administering on the estate.30

28 For prices in 1846-8, see my preceding volume, v., and note 4 of this chapter. With preparation for departure to the mines, in the spring of 1849, a lull set in, Larkin's Doc., vii. 92; Hanley's Observ., MS., 5; but immediately after began the great influx of ships, and prices advanced once more, till toward the end of the year, when gold-laden diggers came back, they reached unprecedented figures. A lot on the plaza, which in 1847 had cost $16.50, sold in beginning of 1849 for $6,000, and at the end of the year for $15,000. Henshaw's Events, MS., 7. Buffum, Six Mo., 121-2, instances this or a similar sale as ranging from $15 to $40,000. Johnson, Cal. and Or., 101, gives the oft-told story of a lot selling for $18,000, which two years before was bar- tered for a barrel of whiskey. A central lot which R. Semple is said to have given away to show his confidence in Benicia's prospects, now commanded a little fortune. Williams, Rec., MS., 6-7, quotes central lots long before the close of 1849 at from $10,000 to $15,000, those on the plaza at $15,000 and $20,000; yet the most substantial business was done east of Kearny st, ob- serves Currey, Stat., MS., S. A 50-vara lot on the corner of Montgomery and Market sts sold for $500. Findla's Stat., MS., 8. The government paid $1,000 a foot for 120 feet on the plaza. S. F. Herald, June 25, 1850. At the end of this year the demand fell off. Larkin's Doc., vii. 231, yet the rise con- tinned till the climax for the time was reached in 1853, says Williams, the builder. Ubi sup. At the close of this year the authorities sold water lots of only 25 feet by 59, part under water, at from $8,000 to $16,000, four small blocks alone producing $1,200,000, and tending to restore the impaired credit of the city. Annals S. F., 182. In Cal. Digger's Hand-book, 36, are some curious figures for lots from the presidio to San Pablo. For reliable points, see Alta Cal., Dec. 15, 1849, etc .; and Pac. News; also Rednitz, Reise, 106; Lambertie, Voy., 203-9.

29 Details in S. F Real Estate Circular, Sac. Bee, June 12, 1874; Hayes' Scraps, Cal. Notes, v. 16, etc.

30 The state laid claim to it, but yielded after long litigation. Leidesdorff

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WILLIAM A. LEIDESDORFF.

The demand was confined chiefly to Kearny street round the plaza, and eastward to the cove, including water lots. Outside land shared only moderately in the rise, fifty-vara lots, the usual size, near the corner of Montgomery and Market streets, selling for $500. Property toward North Beach was regarded with greater favor.31 Periodic auction sales gave a stimu- lus to operations,32 and lotteries were added to sustain it, chiefly by men who had managed to secure large blocks on speculation.33 Dealings were not without risk, for several clouds overhung the titles, water lots being involved in the tide-land question, soon satisfac- torily settled by act of legislature, and nearly all the rest in the claim to pueblo lands, which led to long and harassing litigation, with contradictory judg- ments, disputed surveys, and congressional debates ;

was buried at Mission Dolores with imposing ceremonies befitting his promi- nence and social virtues. Warm of heart, clear of head, social, hospitable, liberal to a fault, his hand ever open to the poor and unfortunate, active and enterprising in business, and with a character of high integrity, his name stands as among the purest and best of that sparkling little community to which his death proved a serious loss. It is necessary for the living to take charge of the effects of the dead, but it smells strongly of the cormorant, the avidity with which men seek to administer an estate for the profit to be de- rived from it. We have many notable examples of this kind in the history of California, in which men of prominence have participated, sometimes in the name of friendship, but usually actuated thereto by avarice. The body of William A. Leidesdorff was scarcely cold before Joseph L. Folsom obtained from Gov. Mason an order to take charge of the estate in connection with Charles Myres. The indecent haste of Folsom was checked by the appoint- ment as administrator of W. D. M. Howard by John Townsend, Ist alcalde of San Francisco. And when Folsom died there were others just as eager as he had been to finger dead men's wealth.

31 Beyond Montgomery and Market, 100-vara lots were offered for $500, and with some purchasers the scrub oak firewood on them was the main in- ducement.

32 See advertisements in Alta Cal., Dec. 15, 1849, and other dates; and Pac. News, Jan. 5, 1850, etc. Large weekly sales took place. The last of 500 lots yielded $225,000, says S. F. Herald, Ang. 10, 1850; S. F. Picayune, Dec. 4, 1850; Olney's Vig., MS., 2. Among the auctioneers whose sale cata- logues are before me figure G. E. Tyler in 1849, and Cannon & Co. and Ken- dig, Wainwright, & Co. in 1850. In the 1849 catalogues 50-vara lots pre- vail as far s. w. as Turk and Taylor sts, and 100-vara sizes south of Market st, while in 1850 lots of 20 feet frontage are the most common even in the latter region. For raffling of lots, see Cal. Courier, Oct. 5, 1850; Pac. News, Oct. 19, 1850.

33 A large portion of the city land was held by a few and squatters would scuttle old hnlks upon desirable water lots to secure possession, as did alcalde, Leavenworth. Merrill's Stat., MS., 2-4.

HIST. CAL., VOL. VI. 13

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SAN FRANCISCO.

in addition to which rose several spectres in the form of private land grants. 34

By the middle of 1849 the greater part of the lots laid out by O'Farrell35 had been disposed of, and W. M. Eddy was accordingly instructed to extend the survey to Larkin and Eighth streets,36 within which limits sales were continued. Encouraged by the de- mand, John Townsend and C. de Boom hastened to lay out a suburban town on the Potrero Nuevo penin- sula, two miles south, beyond Mission Bay, which with its sloping ground, good water, and secure anchor- age held forth many attractions to purchasers; but the distance and difficulty of access long proved a bar to settlement.27

The eagerness to invest in lots was for some time not founded on any wide-spread confidence in the coun- try and the future of the city. Few then thought of making California their home, or, indeed, of remaining longer than to gather gold enough for a stake in life. Viewed by the average eye, the abnormities of 1849 displayed no meaning. Absorbed in the one great pursuit, which confined them to comparatively arid gold belts and to marshy or sand-blown town sites, they missed the real beauties of the country, failed to observe its best resources, and became im- pressed rather by the worst features connected with their roamings and hardships. The climate was bear- able, summer's consuming heat being chased away by winter's devouring waters. The soil would not furnish food for the people, it was said. The mines

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History of California, Volume VI, Part 21

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe Publication date: 1885-1890 Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers Number of Pages: 816

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 816