Central Hotel Registers
Finding aid created by Monterey Public Library staff using RecordEXPRESS
Monterey Public Library
2023
625 Pacific Street
Monterey, California 93940
(831) 646-3741
https://www.monterey.org/services/library/history_room/index.php
Title: Central Hotel Registers
Dates: 1883-1917
Collection Number: ARC 536
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 4 registers in 3 boxes; 40 x 27 cm. to 47 x 33 cm.
Repository:
Monterey Public Library
Monterey, California 93940
Abstract: Collection consist of four bound hotel registers for the Central Hotel in Monterey. (The first two registers have hard covers;
the last two have had the covers removed.) The registers are records of hotel guests for the time periods: July 1, 1883 through
September 24, 1885; September 27, 1885 through January 31, 1887; December 20, 1905 through April 1, 1906; and November 12,
1912 through October 10, 1917.
Language of Material: English
Access by appointment only; contact Local History Librarian or designated staff.
Reproduction by Local History Librarian or other designated staff; may be restricted due to condition of the materials.
[Identification of item]. Central Hotel Registers. Collection Number: ARC 536. Monterey Public Library
Donated by Mrs. T.J. Barkle.
Biography/Administrative History
The Central Hotel was a later name for the first commercial hotel on Alvarado Street in Monterey, the American or Morrissey
House of 1849-1854. The building was originally the Dolores Vasquez Adobe. In 1878, Charles Underwood expanded the original
adobe to 18 rooms under the name 2Monterey House.3 Underwood had obtained the building in a deed from the estate of Henry
Carr Curtis in 1869. He also had large land holdings in the Carmel Valley and in Corral de Tierra. He and his wife Catherine
managed the hotel and, in the early 1880s, renamed it the Central Hotel. They leased the hotel to William Tibbetts in the
mid 1880s, with Mrs. Underwood maintaining the proprietorship. By the late 1890s the hotel had expanded to 36 rooms. The Underwoodsʼ
son, Alexander Richard Underwood, became the manager in 1900, and in 1909, his mother deeded the hotel to him. In 1911, Alexander
Underwood had the hotel razed and erected a steel and brick structure (the Underwood Apartments - Hotel) in its place in 1912.
Scope and Content of Collection
The primary information in each register is composed of: date, name of guest, residence for guest (usually indicated by city
or area name only), time of arrival (rarely indicated), room number, and remarks (infrequently made). The last two registers
have the term 2check3 in place of 2date3 in the first column. In the third register the date is stamped on the top of the
page; however, in the last volume, when a new building and name (the Underwood Apartments Hotel) had replaced the old structure,
there is a reversion to entering dates in the 2check3 column. Organized by volume and arranged chronologically.
Hotels
The Central Hotel
Underwood Apartments Hotel
Charles Underwood
Catherine underwood
Alexander Richard Underwood
Monterey, California
Registers