Palace Hotel, San Francisco

The current ("New") Palace Hotel (opened in 1909) is an historic hotel located in San Francisco, California, at the SW corner of Market Street and New Montgomery Street, immediately adjacent to BART's Montgomery Street Station, the Monadnock Building, and across Market Street from Lotta's Fountain. It replaced the original Palace Hotel which stood at the same location from 1875 until it was destroyed by fire on April 18, 1906, as a result of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

The original Palace Hotel

. (This area was converted to a palm filled public lounge [http://thepalacehotel.org/PH_Photos/PH_Garden_Court_1904.jpg] a few years before the 1906 earthquake.)

Andrew Carnegie, "Round the World" [Andrew Carnegie, "Round the World", The Project Gutenberg EBook [http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/etext04/7rwrl10.htm] ]

1906 earthquake

Although the hotel survived the initial damage from the early morning April 18, 1906, San Francisco earthquake, by late that afternoon it had been consumed by the subsequent fires. Notably, famous tenor Enrico Caruso (who had sung the role of Don José in Carmen the night before) was staying in the hotel at the time of the quake, and swore to never return to the City.

Reconstruction

The Hotel was completely rebuilt from the ground up, re-opening largely in its current form in 1909 and resumed its role as an important landmark and host to many of the City's great events. The Grand Court was later transformed into the Garden Court to serve as a banquet area.

Details of the Hotel

The Ralston Room, named for co-founder William Ralston, is off the main corridor to the left. The hotel is also notable for its Pied Piper Bar named for the large painting by American artist Maxfield Parrish that adorns the room.

Notable events at the Hotel

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Modern renovations

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Guided Tours

Free guided tours of the hotel are led by volunteers of the San Francisco City Guides, a program of the San Francisco Public Library.

References

External links

* [http://www.sfpalace.com/main/home.htm Palace Hotel homepage]
* [http://ThePalaceHotel.org ThePalaceHotel.org] An online illustrated history of the Palace Hotel
* [http://cprr.org/Museum/Palace_Hotel_SF/ Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum]
* [http://businessimagegroup.com/Hotels_Palace.html Historical exhibits at the Palace Hotel]
* [http://www.sfcityguides.org San Francisco City Guides]
* http://www.palacehotelsoftheworld.com/