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The Original Palace Hotel
(1875-1906)

"Souvenir of the Palace Hotel"
An Illustrated Booklet with 12 Captioned Photographs published by the Palace Hotel, San Francisco (c1895).

To which have been added:

A Brief History of the Palace Hotel
by Bruce C. Cooper.

A Detailed Architectural Description of the Palace Hotel from "Historical Souvenir of San Francisco, Cal." published by C.P. Heininger, San Francisco (1887).

A Booklet for Guests and Rate Card published by the new Palace Hotel, San Francisco (1922).

and Additional Period & Original Modern Images.

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Opened on October 2, 1875, San Francisco's original seven story, 755-room Palace Hotel was the glorious final gift of the colorful – but ill-fated –

As with the construction of the buildings themselves, Ralston spared no expense in the sumptuous furnishing and decorating of the mansion, guest quarters, and stables at Belmont. "Books and paintings were sometimes bought wholesale," noted Amelia Ransome Neville in "The Fantastic City -Memoirs of the Social and Romantic Life of Old San Francisco."  "When he was furnishing Belmont, he called one day at the studio of Thomas Hill where the walls were covered with the artist's paintings. Mr. Ralston glanced about. 'How much for the lot?' he asked. A generous price was paid and Hill's landscapes were hung all over Belmont." [In 1881, Hill completed his most famous and ambitious work, "The Last Spike," depicting the joining of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads at Promontory Summit, U.T., on May 10, 1969, and published a booklet about the massive work at the same time.]

After twenty years of building his fame and fortune in San Francisco, however, by the summer of 1875 W.C. Ralston's highly leveraged empire had fallen into deep financial peril. He was finally wiped out completely when the Bank of California collapsed after its depositors and other investors panicked as the result of a mining stock fraud involving what proved to be mostly worthless mines along and near the grades of the Central Pacific, Union Pacific, and Virginia & Truckee Railroads. After a $1,400,000 one day run on the Bank, its directors called in Ralston, who by then was President of the Bank, on August 27, 1875, and forced him to relinquish control of the institution. Although Ralston was said to have taken the news with equanimity, just hours later the 49-year old entrepreneur's body was found floating in San Francisco Bay just off Meigg's Wharf. Although he swam in the Bay there almost daily, the events of a few hours earlier left many suspecting that Ralston's death was a suicide by drowning. However an autopsy and Coroner's inquest – on which depended the payment of life insurance to Ralston's widow and their four children – ruled that he had not drowned, but instead died of an apoplectic stroke. A reported 50,000 San Franciscans lined the streets of the city for miles to watch the passage of his funeral cortege from Union Square.

In what proved to be both the grandest – and the last – of the banker's many "dream projects" for his adopted city, William Ralston had wanted to turn 1870's San Francisco from a still young Pacific boom town into a world class metropolis by erecting a grand hotel of timeless elegance and unprecedented luxury. To that end Ralston first commissioned Irish-born architect and engineer John Painter Gaynor (who had also worked on Ralston Hall) to study the finest hotels in both the East and in Europe for ideas. Ralston intended, of course, that these famous hostelries would soon all pale in comparison to his new Palace Hotel which begun to rise early in 1873 on a two-and-a-half acre site on the SW corner of Market and New Montgomery Streets. Previously occupied by a large sandhill, Ralston had acquired the 375 x 250 foot rectangular property in pieces for a total of $400,000.

While Ralston had depended heavily on his shaky banking empire to help finance his $5 million dream, the sudden collapse of his Bank of California in late August – and Ralston's shocking and unexpected death on the same day that he lost control of the institution – did not delay the opening of the Palace Hotel two months later. Ralston's business partner U.S. Senator William Sharon – who had helped cause the collapse of the Bank when he dumped his stock in the Comstock Lode – ended up in control of both the Bank and Ralston's debts (both of which which he paid off at just pennies on the Dollar), including the then almost completed Palace Hotel. Personally, Sen. Sharon also took over Ralston Hall by paying the late banker's widow just $50,000 for the multi-million Dollar estate, and lived there until his death in 1885.

After being under construction for more than two-and-a-half years, San Francisco's magnificent new Palace Hotel finally opened its doors to wild public acclaim on October 2, 1875, just over two months after its visionary creator's untimely death. (Ironically his Bank of California also reopened on that same day after acquiring fresh financing from new investors.) For the next three decades, the Palace Hotel would serve as a more than fitting monument to the dreams and imagination of William C. Ralston, the "Magician of San Francisco."

As promised, the City's newest landmark was stunning in its design and innovation. The skylighted open center of the building featured a Grand Court – overlooked by seven stories of gleaming white marble columned balconies – which served as an elegant carriage entrance for a parade of the rich and famous visiting San Francisco, and from which these already awed guests entered the hotel's magnificent lobby to check in. [About 1900 the Grand Court was converted from a formal arrival area for carriages into a gracious central lounge.] The hotel's redwood paneled hydraulic elevators – known as "rising rooms" – allowed its guests to easily reach any of the hotel's seven floors. Each guest room or suite was equipped with an electronic call button to summon a member of the hotel's large and attentive staff ready to attend to each guest's every whim. All guest rooms could be easily joined together to create suites, or to make up large apartments for long term residents. The parlor of each guest room also featured a large bay window overlooking the street below.

The Grand Court is seen here in 1904 after it had been converted from the Palace Hotel's carriage entrance to a gracious central lounge.

Among the Palace Hotel's public rooms were the white and gold American Dining Room, located right off the main lobby, which could accommodate 600. There were also two elegant "Grille Rooms" – one for Ladies, and another for Gentlemen. The Maple Hall was available for receptions, while the Tapestry Room accommodated private dinners. Three "Louis Quinze" style "Parlors" (which could be combined into a single large room) were also available for public and private functions. A Colonial style Billiards Room provided a place for gentlemen guests to relax, as did the magnificently appointed Bar.

For the next thirty years, the Palace Hotel was the city's symbol of world class elegance to both visitors and San Franciscans alike. (Among the many important events to take place there were a series of hearings before the U.S. Pacific Railway Commission in the summer of 1887 at which Lewis M. Clement was among those to provide testimony.) That all changed, of course, at 5:12 A.M. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, when a massive earthquake shook all of the San Francisco Bay Area. While the Palace Hotel survived the quake with relatively minor structural damage, like so many other important buildings in the city, the hotel was soon overtaken by the fire storms that followed in its wake over the next three days. The flames reached the hotel from the East early Wednesday afternoon, and by nightfall the magnificent world famous structure was reduced to a burned out shell.

By early 1909, the outside walls of the new Palace Hotel (upper left) had already arisen on the site of the original hotel as San Francisco worked to replace the some 28,000 buildings that had occupied the 512 blocks of the city that had been laid waste by the April 18, 1906, earthquake and the three days of fires that followed in its wake.

While the interior of the building itself had been gutted by the fire, its walls had been so well built that it eventually cost $90,000 and took several months to tear them down so that a "new" Palace Hotel could rise in its place. Three years later a new nine story structure had risen from the ashes of William Ralston's original caravansary. While much plainer on the outside than the original Palace, for almost a century now the 1909 Palace has been as elegant, sumptuous, and gracious on the inside as its predecessor. The "Palm Court" (also called the "Garden Court") – which occupies the same area as the Grand Court did in the original hotel – has been San Francisco's most prestigious hotel dining room since the day it opened in 1909. Almost anybody who is anybody has quenched their thirst at one time or another in the "Pied Piper" Bar (overseen by its famous Maxfield Parrish painting) which is located just off the gleaming polished marble lobby.

Engraved "End of the Trail" vignette from 1920's Palace Hotel letterhead.
(Click on the above image to see this vignette enlarged.)

On October 18, 1989, San Francisco and the Bay area experienced its first major seismic event since 1906 when a group of strong 6.7 - 7.1 temblors centered in Loma Prieta just south of the city rocked the entire Bay area starting at just a little after 5 in the afternoon. Although the Palace Hotel was not seriously structurally damaged, after eighty years of hard use its owners decided to take the opportunity to close the hotel for more than a year to give the building a complete, long overdue renovation. When its doors reopened in 1991, every inch of the Palace had been lovingly – and faithfully – restored to its 1909 glory at a cost of more than $150 Million.

[NOTE: The United States Pacific Railway Commission was created by an act of Congress of March 3, 1887 (24 Stat. 488). This act authorized the President to appoint three commissioners to investigate the affairs of those Pacific railroads that had received aid from the Federal Government. On April 15, 1887, President Grover Cleveland appointed the Commission, composed of Robert E. Pattison, chairman; E. Ellery Anderson; and David T. Littler. The main office was established in New York; temporary offices were located in San Francisco and Washington. The scope of the Commission's investigation "included a history of these roads, their relations and indebtedness to the Government, and the question whether in the interest of the United States an extension of the time for the performance of the obligations of said roads to the Government should be granted; and, if so, the . . . Commissioners were directed to submit a scheme for such an extension." The Commissioners reported to the President on December 1, 1887. Anderson and Littler concurred in the report of the Commission, while Pattison presented a dissenting report. The majority report recommended an extension of time for the payment of the debts of the railroads to the Government, while the minority report recommended that proceedings be instituted for forfeiting the charters of the railroads and for winding up their affairs. The findings of the Commission were transmitted to Congress by President Cleveland on January 17, 1888.]

Palace Hotel "End of the Trail" Picture Postcard. In the 1920's an engraved version of this image (see above) was used as the vignette on the Palace Hotel letterhead.

Its commodious and elegant character is assured in the fact that, in the inception of the enterprise, the owner, the late Hon. William Sharon, instructed his architect to visit the hotels of the principal cities of the United States and Europe, for the express purpose of including in the plans of the Palace all existing improvements, and such additional ones that experience and observation had suggested, he desiring it to be a palatial hotel in every respect.

The Palace Hotel occupies the entire block upon the south west corner of New Montgomery and Market Streets; rearing its huge fronts a hundred and twenty feet, extending two hundred and seventy-five feet westerly up Market and Jessie, and stretching its vast flanks three hundred and fifty feet southerly along New Montgomery and Annie, this architectural monarch lifts its colossal bulk above the very business and social centers of the Pacific Metropolis.

Lines of street cars, connecting directly with all principal streets, business centers, leading places of amusement or resort, and all notable localities, constantly traversing the entire city, even to its remotest suburbs; run directly by, or within a minute's walk. At the neighboring foot of the city's grand, central avenue, which passes directly under its northern front, are the stations and docks of the Great Overland Railway terminus, with the piers and slips of the principal steam ferries, which swiftly bridge the broad bay in every habitable or pleasurable direction. A few blocks south lie the immense docks and basins of the P. M. S. S. Co. [Pacific Mail Steamship Company], with their grand fleet of Transpacific Mail Steamships for the Sandwich Islands, China, Japan, Australia, India, and the nations of the Orient.

The general style of architecture, within and without, is almost severely simple, Amplitude, solidity, strength and permanency reign in every part. Of the imposing exterior of the stately structure, with myriads of bay windows diversifying its four immense fronts, from top to bottom, and partially relieving the oppressive massiveness which must otherwise characterize it, of its stupendous proportions and its absolute immensity.

Ninety-six thousand two hundred and fifty square feet, or nearly two and a quarter acres, underlie the stupendous structure itself, while the sub-sidewalk extensions increase the basement area to upwards of three acres. Its general form is an immense triplicate, hollow quadrangle, including one grand central, crystal-roofed garden court, flanked by a lesser and parallel court on either side. Seven lofty stories surmount the deep and airy basement, and through a considerable portion it has eight. The lower story has a height of twenty-seven feet; the uppermost sixteen. The deep foundation wall is twelve feet thick; stone, iron, brick and marble are the chief materials. Of the brick alone, its construction consumed thirty-one millions.

All outer and inner and partition walls, from base to top, are solid stone and brick built around, within, and upon a huge skeleton of broad wrought-iron bands, thickly bolted together, and of such immense size as to have required three thousand tons for this purpose alone. Thus, the building is really duplex – a huge, self-supporting frame of iron, of enormous strength, within massive walls of firm-set brick and solid stone. The outer and visible walls are proof against fire; the inner and invisible frames secure against earthquake. The supporting columns, within and without, are iron; the cornice of iron and zinc. Four artesian wells, having a tested capacity of 28,000 gallons an hour, supply the great 630,000 gallon reservoir under the central court, besides filling seven roof-tanks holding 130,000 gallons more. Three large steam fire-pumps force water through 45 4-inch wrought iron upright fire-mains, reaching above the roof, and distribute it through 327 2 1/2-inch hose bibs, and 15,000 feet of 5-ply carbonized fire-hose, thus doubly and trebly commanding every inch of the vast structure from roof to basement, within and without.

Five patent safety-catch hydraulic elevators, running noiselessly within fire-proof brick walls, ascend even to the roof promenades. Electric fire-alarms, self-acting, instantly report at the office the exact locality of any fire, or even of extraordinary beat in any parlor, bedroom, closet, hall, passage, stairway or storeroom. Special hotel watchmen regularly patrol all parts of the building every thirty minutes, day and night. A self-acting and self-registering tell-tale indicator instantly reports at the office any neglect or omission of their duty. Besides all these precautions, a fire-proof iron staircase, inclosed in solid brick and stone, and opening through iron doors upon every floor, ascends from basement to roof. Every floor has its exclusive annunciator, and its own tabular conductors, carrying all letters for the post office directory to the main letter-box in the general office. A pneumatic dispatch tube instantly conveys letters, messages or parcels to and from any point of the different floors. Two thousand and forty-two ventilating tubes, opening outward upon the roof from every room, bath-room and closet, insure constant purity and thorough sweetness of air in every part.

The grand central court, 144 x 84 feet, has a carriage and promenade entrance, through the east front on New Montgomery street, of 44 feet width, expanding into a circular driveway of fifty-two feet in diameter, surrounded by a marble-tiled promenade and a tropical garden of rare exotics, with choice statuary and artistic fountains. Within this court, opposite the main entrance, is the music pavilion, in which the instrumental band, exclusively attached to the palace, renders choice selections, at stated intervals, during every afternoon and evening.

Off the central court open the main entrance to the hotel office, 65 x 55 ; entrances to the breakfast room, 110 x 55; the grand dining room, 150 x 55; the music and ball room, 65 x 55; the ladies' lower reception room, 40 x 40 ; reading room of the same size ; billiard rooms, 65 x 40; barber shop and bath rooms, 40 x 40; committee rooms, and other general apartments, devoted to the pleasure or convenience of guests and patrons.

On the second floor are private dining rooms, children's dining hall, and the ladies' drawing rooms, 84 x 40. The total number of rooms exclusively for guests above the garden floor is 755.  Most are twenty feet square – none less than 16 x 16. They are equally well finished and furnished throughout. The heavy carpets, of most artistic and beautiful designs, were manufactured exclusively for this hotel. The massive furniture, original and unique in design, was made by special contract in San Francisco, of the finest and most beautiful native woods, at an aggregate cost of over half a million dollars. The rooms are expressly arranged for use, either singly or in suits of two or more. Their connections and approaches are such that an individual, family, or a party of any size, can have a suite of any number of rooms, combining the seclusion of the most elegant private residence, with the numberless luxuries of the most perfect hotel. Every outer room has its bay window, while every parlor and guest chamber has its own private toilet, ample clothes closet and fire grate.

The capitals of the columns along the upper corridors are crowded with elegant urns and vases of rare and beautiful flowers and plants, whose twining tendrils in luxuriant growth gracefully festoon the balconies, while the delicious fragrance of this tropical conservatory pervades the air of the court, as well as that of the neighboring rooms, with delightful perfumes. Independent of outward atmospheric changes, this crystal-roofed garden enjoys its own local sub-tropical climate of perpetual summer, where, as in some charming nook of fairyland, the balmy breath of incense-laden air may at once refresh and recreate its delighted guests. Classic statues of the four seasons also adorn the corridors of this aerial tropical conservatory.

From broad walks and observatories, surrounding the lofty roof, and readily accessible by the elevators, the guests enjoy a panoramic view unsurpassed in breadth and beauty. Within and without, in all approaches, appointments and belongings, the kingly structure, far surpassing, not only in size but in grandeur, all the hotels of Europe and America, richly jufitines the propriety of its happily chosen name—The Palace Hotel.

The Palace Hotel
(Opened October 2, 1875)
 

1876

1880

1880

1883

Individual Silver Teapot
c. 1900

1905

1905

1906

1906

1906

The New Palace Hotel
(Opened December 16, 1909)

The New Palace Hotel Advertisement
1911

The Palace Hotel and Lotta's Fountain
2003

The Ballroom
1923

The Lobby
1923

The Lobby
1930

The Lobby
2003

The Palm Court
2003

The Pied Piper Bar
1935

Pied Piper Bar
2003

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New Palace Hotel
Booklet for Guests and Rate Card
1922

The following description of the facilities of the new Palace Hotel comes from a pocket sized booklet (seen in the lower left corner of the above illustration) which was published by the Hotel in 1921 for the information of its guests. Included with the booklet is the Palace Hotel's rate card as of January, 1922.

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THE PALACE HOTEL.
Management of
Halsey E. Manwaring

In the Center of that wonderful Queen City of the West, that city whose history is so replete with sentiment and romance, founded by intrepid pioneers of early days, stands the magnificent Palace Hotel, rightly called the Palace of the West; its fame is closely interwoven with the World-Wide story of the City that knows how.

HISTORY

WHEN the Central Pacific railroad was completed, linking, with its rails of steel, the East to the West, the need of accommodations suitable for the travelers of rank and wealth who visited San Francisco was at once apparent. From this need the Palace Hotel sprang into being in 1875 – almost a half-century ago.

When the last spike – a golden one – had been driven in the transcontinental railroad the West became the Mecca for adventurous souls, the land of golden promises, the most fascinating spot in the world.

The original Palace Hotel was planned and built by William C. Ralston, one of the picturesque figures of the early days of California. With his far-seeing judgment, he planned to make the Palace the greatest hostelry in America and when opened on October 2, 1875, it was universally conceded to be absolutely unequaled.

San Francisco was then experiencing one of the most dramatic periods of the city's early life – the period known as the "bonanza days." The gold rush had abated and the mines were producing millions. Speculation was rife. Fortunes were made or lost over night. It is said that more than five hundred million dollars in paper was outstanding on the Exchange at one time, and fluctuations of fifty millions within a week were not unusual.

The important figures of these stirring times made the Palace their home. Its registers show the names of every prominent traveler of those days. Today it is the home of many of the social and financial leaders of the West. The cream of the world's travel comes to the Palace, drawn by the fame of its cuisine and service, a fame which has come down through half a century, and which has become a tradition closely interwoven with the state's oldest and finest families.

From the day of its opening, until the conflagration of 1906, when, with the entire down-town portion of the city, it was totally destroyed, the Palace, without question, was the West's most famous hotel.

A new Palace sprang up from the ashes of the old. Because it was rebuilt along the old lines without omitting one endearing feature of the old Palace, it has never for a moment lost its place in the hearts of those who knew the Palace of old.

The Palace of today is a magnificent structure of steel, concrete and brick, covering practically two acres in the heart of the West's most fascinating city. From a point of construction it is without a superior. Absolutely fireproof, it offers a luxurious $8,000,000.00 home to the resident or traveler.

The original Palace was built in the form of a hollow square surrounding a great Sun Court filled with palms and flowers. The traveler never forgot the unique experience of-driving into this court over a graveled road, and entering this metropolitan hotel from its tropical gardens. Thus, the fame of the Palace spread far and near.

The Palm Court of today, which has taken the place of the open court of the "bonanza days," is conceded to be one of the most attractive dining-rooms in America. The wide-open space, the lofty iridescent glass covering, through which the sunlight filters down in an amber flood, makes an irresistible appeal to all who gather there.

The Palm Court (aka The Garden Court) in 2004

AFTERNOON TEA

Society gathers in the Palm Court for afternoon tea. A splendid orchestra in keeping with the magnificent room, is one of the attractions.

Music plays an important part in the life of this ultra-modern hotel. The dancing orchestra in the Rose Room adjoining the Palm Court is one of the finest in the West. Each member of this orchestra is a soloist of note, and the Palace dances are exceedingly popular.

The beautiful Rose Room has the same iridescent glass ceiling as that of the Palm Court with the same old-ivory toned woodwork, but its beauty is enhanced by rose-colored velvet hangings and silken light shades of a soft rose hue.

Adjoining the Rose Room is the Concert Room. This spacious room, has always been one of the most popular private dining saloons in the city. Here many of the important club luncheons and dinners are given each week, and, when occasion demands, its doors are opened and it becomes a part of the Rose Room. The attractive concert room is also the scene of many society weddings.

The three rooms, the Palm Court, the Rose Room, and the Concert Room, can be thrown into one immense dining room, with a seating capacity of close to two thousand persons. Here the city's important functions are invariably staged.
So popular has the Palace become as a business and social rendezvous, that an average of 2,500 luncheons are served daily.

The Ball Room is a magnificent white and gold room, with the same wonderful crystal chandeliers which distinguish the other main rooms. It is so located that it can be made a part of the three main dining rooms. Many of the daughters of the State's oldest families have made their debut with this beautiful ballroom as the setting.

Beyond the Palm Court from the Rose Room is the Grill. An ideal breakfast room, its heavily carved panels and beamed ceiling form the setting of an intimate room which bears the closest scrutiny and of which one never tires. It is open only to men during luncheon hours and many of the tables are reserved by the same coterie of business men from year to year.

"Maxfield's" (formerly called The Grill) in 2004

THE FAMOUS BUFFET

The famous Palace Buffet is no more. This heavy, dark paneled room, which opens from the Grill is now known as the Grill Annex. The Palace Buffet, once the most famous gathering place in the West, was the rendezvous of the leaders of the business world in the days when clubs were unknown in the city. The $25,000.00 painting of the "Pied Piper" by Maxfield Parrish still adorns the wall of this room.

"The Pied Piper" by Maxfield Parrish

THE FRENCH PARLOR

Overlooking the Court on the mezzanine floor is the French Parlor, a delightful gray and ivory salon. It is one of the most popular rooms in the hotel, for afternoon functions or weddings. The Palace has many private dining rooms, suitable for small gatherings, one of the most interesting being the Salon d'Nivelle, a most luxuriously fitted little dining room, with a seating capacity of but twenty-five.

The fittings of this private dining room are exquisite. Soft old-rose colored draperies harmonize with the old-ivory woodwork and the splendid French tapestries and engravings. The Salon d' Nivelle was christened by General R. Nivelle during his last visit to San Francisco.

Many of the luxurious apartments at the Palace are leased for a long term of years. These private suites are complete in every detail. The bedrooms at the Palace are unusually spacious and luxuriously furnished.

The Palace room service is one of the most efficient known to hotel men. Small tables, completely set up — a table to each person served— are carried to the desired floor by private elevators, allowing the meals to be served in the minimum length of time.

The Palace has its own plant for the generation of electricity, for steam heating, for separate ventilation of each floor, for ice making, the running of laundry machinery, and for fire protection. Unlike any other hotel, the Palace has three great wells directly beneath it. From this unfailing supply, the water is pumped into an immense reservoir, with a capacity of 675,000 gallons.

Fresh air, brought into the hotel through specially arranged channels, is filtered and washed before being sent to the rooms.  The entire body of air is changed every four minutes. Expert architects and engineers who have watched the operation of the Palace system of ventilation say that this is one instance where theory in practice has proved all that had been expected.

The Palace laundry is one of the most modern and best equipped in the city. It handles between 30,000 and 40,000 pieces daily.

Carrying out the dream of its founders, the service of the Palace has always been maintained at that point of excellence which early made it famous throughout the world.

Exhibits courtesy of the Bruce C. Cooper Collection.
Original text, annotations, modern and composite images by Bruce C. Cooper, DigitalImageServices.com.

Also see:

• "Historical Souvenir of San Francisco, Cal." View Book by C. P. Heininger, San Francisco, Cal., c. 1887
• Watkins Stereoviews of the Palace Hotel (#1661 & following)
• Watkins Stereoviews of the Palace Hotel (#3547 & following)
• Mark Hopkins Hotel
• Walking Tours of San Francisco - Palace Hotel
• "San Francisco" The Overland Monthly, January, 1870

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Images courtesy of:

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