The Orleans Hotel is a building listed as a
California Historical Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
.
Formerly a prominent
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
in
Sacramento, California
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
, it now serves as upscale apartments in
Old Sacramento
Old Sacramento State Historic Park occupies around one third of the property within the Old Sacramento Historic District of Sacramento, California. The Old Sacramento Historic District is a U.S. National Historic Landmark District. The Historic ...
.
History
The original Orleans Hotel was built by materials from
shipped around
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...
by its owner Maria Hastings.
There were 40 rooms and a saloon downstairs that served as a frequent stop for stagecoaches that were on their way to the mines during the
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
.
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
had even resided in the hotel in 1866 during his employment at the
Sacramento Union
''The Sacramento Union'' was a daily newspaper founded in 1851 in Sacramento, California. It was the oldest daily newspaper west of the Mississippi River before it closed its doors after 143 years in January 1994, no longer able to compete with ' ...
. The building burned down in 1852 along with many other Sacramento buildings in a large fire. It was rebuilt by the next year, this time in brick, only to meet the same fate in another fire in 1923.
Several attempts were made to build on the site of the former Orleans Hotel since 1975,
but none succeeded until a business owner financed a new mixed-use building in 2007, with construction finished in 2008.
Today the new Orleans Hotel replica is a four-story building with an exterior that matches the Gold Rush-era original. There are 24 rental
lofts
A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...
on the upper floors and was built with plans for a restaurant and other retail opportunities on the bottom floor.
See also
*
History of Sacramento
References
External links
Orleans Residential SiteCity of Sacramento - Orleans Hotel Project and Disposition and Development Agreement- Includes a very extensive history of Orleans Hotel
{{coord missing, Sacramento County, California
Buildings and structures in Sacramento County, California
California Historical Landmarks
Hotel buildings completed in 1853
Hotels established in 1852
1852 establishments in California