История отеля Occidental в Холф-Мун-Бэй: от пожара 1894 года до открытия музея истории прибрежья

Originally built around 1861 on the southeast corner of Kelly Avenue and Purissima Street as the Dawson House. It later became the Schuyler House and finally the Occidental Hotel. On 12 April 1894 a fire started in the hotel, not only burning down the hotel, but most of the city block. It was soon replaced with a 2 story version that lasted until after WWII. We bring together all members of the community to preserve, celebrate, and share the history of the San Mateo Coastside. The Coastside History Museum opened in June 2023. The museum features new exhibits, older exhibits from the older museum in the 1919 Jail and additional artifacts from our collection. The Jail remains open for those who want to take cell-fies, and read about the history of the Coastside. We recently completed our native plant garden, with information about how the Ohlone’s used many of the plants. As Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding in 2026, it is an ideal time to look back at how Coastside residents have marked Independence Day over the generations. For more than a century and a half, Fourth of July celebrations have brought together families, farmers, fishermen, merchants and visitors in our communities. While the parades, picnics, speeches, sporting contests and fireworks have changed over time, the holiday has remained one of the Coastside’s most cherished traditions—a day when local residents gathered to celebrate both their community and the enduring ideals of the United States. In a July 7, 1857 travel log in the Daily Alta California, almost 170 years ago, a couple were quoted as saying about Spanishtown (an old name for Half Moon Bay): “About two miles from the foot of the mountain is ‘Spanishtown,’ a collection of a couple of dozen adobe houses, in the principal one of which the natives had gathered to spend the Fourth of July. The appearance of things about here reminded us more of California in its ante-golden days than anything we have seen before in this vicinity. The gente had gathered from the neighboring ranches, and were smoking cigaritos, ‘talking horse,’ and swearing, looking as happy, and as careless, and as sleepy as we have often seen them in the early times, before this Anglo-Saxon race broke in upon them…. We learned there had been two or three horse races during the day, and that there was to be a ‘fandango’ at night.” 1. As the name of the town (Spanishtown) started to take on the name used for the bay and surrounding areas, Half Moon Bay, it went through several spelling variations. The bay and surrounding areas were usually spelled Half Moon Bay, but the town was often referred to as Half-moon Bay and more commonly Halfmoon Bay. It wasn’t until the 20th century that the town spelling settled on Half Moon Bay. 2. The area from San Gregorio to Año Nuevo, including Pescadero, were part of Santa Cruz County and would not be part of San Mateo County until 1868. 3. The Half-moon Bay House was built in 1861 near the Southeast corner of Kelly and Purissima. By 1866 it was determined to be too small, so a three-story replacement was built next to it on the Southeast corner of Kelly and Purissima. It is not clear if it was finished by the celebrations of 1867. The building was later called the Dawson’s Hotel, then Schuyler House and eventually the Occidental Hotel. It burned down in 1894 and was replaced by a two-story Occidental Hotel. 4. Kelly and Mattingley’s store was on the corner of Kelly and Purissima where the Mercantile Building is today. We bring together all members of the community to preserve, celebrate, and share the history of the San Mateo Coastside. The Coastside History Museum opened in June 2023. The museum features new exhibits, older exhibits from the older museum in the 1919 Jail and additional artifacts from our collection. The Jail remains open for those who want to take cell-fies, and read about the history of the Coastside. We recently completed our native plant garden, with information about how the Ohlone’s used many of the plants. Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.