Horton House Ledger Collection, 1870-1882

Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Title:
Horton House Ledger Collection
Dates:
1870-1882
Creators:
Horton House.
Abstract:
The collection contains six ledgers recording guests and transactions of the Horton House from October 1870 to March 1882.
Extent:
6.0 Linear feet (6 boxes)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Horton House Ledger Collection, MS 279, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of five guest ledgers and one transfer ledger (accounting). The guest ledgers detail the date, name, home residence, room number, and arrival for the hotel patrons, and pages are not numbered. The transfer ledger has page numbers and is organized alphabetically. The entries include arrival date, departure date, length of stay, room rate, extra charges, amount of bill, and remarks. The dates for the transfer ledger entries are unclear. The extra charges provide an intriguing insight to hotel life in the late 1800s. The extras covered laundry, medicine, fires, livery, messengers, wine, and more. Horton House enjoyed visitors from many countries including England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Venezuela, Hong Kong, Australia, and Mexico. Eighty percent of U.S. states are represented in the ledgers, though most of the patrons were from southern California. Well-known guests include T. S. Van Dyke, H. H. Bancroft, Emily Pitts Stevens, the Couts family, and the Estudillo family. Many traveling acts, such as the Two Headed Nightingale Company, the Van Amburgh Circus, and various dramatic troupes, lodged at the Horton House. On several occasions, the hotel even housed jurors serving in San Diego County trials.

Biographical / historical:

Alonzo Erastus Horton, known as the “Father of San Diego,” was born in Union, Connecticut, on October 24, 1813. Horton moved to Wisconsin in 1836 to improve his health, and began working in the cattle business and as a land speculator. In the mid-1840s, Horton traveled to St. Louis to purchase land warrants which entitled him to 1500 acres of land in Wisconsin. With this land, Horton developed and founded the town of Hortonville. A few years later in 1850, he sold his land and ventured west to California in order to work in the mining industry, though not as a miner. Eventually he settled in San Francisco as a supplier and furniture dealer. When he heard about the climate and valuable harbor in San Diego, Alonzo Horton decided to sell his business and move south in 1867 with his second wife, Sarah Wilson Babe. Beginning shortly after his arrival in San Diego, Horton purchased nearly 1000 acres at auctions from 1867-1869 and successfully established New Town, including Horton’s Addition. He sold or leased lots for the construction of businesses and houses on the land.

On January 1, 1870, construction began on the lavish Horton House Hotel (where the U.S. Grant Hotel now stands on 4th Ave and Broadway). William W. Bowers, Horton’s brother-in-law, assisted in building the hotel, including its design, erection, and furnishings. In October 1870, the hotel was open for business. Horton House enjoyed visitors from many countries including England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Venezuela, Hong Kong, Australia, and Mexico. Eighty percent of U.S. states are represented in the ledgers, though most of the patrons were from southern California. Well-known guests include T. S. Van Dyke, H. H. Bancroft, Emily Pitts Stevens, the Couts family, and the Estudillo family. Many traveling acts, such as the Two Headed Nightingale Company, the Sherman’s Circus, and various dramatic troupes, lodged at the Horton House. On several occasions, the hotel even housed jurors serving on San Diego County trials. Among the hotel’s various proprietors were A. E. Horton, J. L. Babe, P. A. Sheppard, C. P. Gerichten, W. E. Hadley, and S. W. Craigue. In 1895, U. S. Grant, Jr., purchased the Horton House, and in 1905, Alonzo E. Horton, Ephraim W. Morse, and William W. Bowers removed the first bricks in preparation for the hotel’s deconstruction. U.S. Grant, Jr., built the U.S. Grant Hotel as a memorial to his father, President U.S. Grant, and it opened in 1910. A. E. Horton died in January 1909.

Processing information:

Collection processed by Sandra Kirkwood on January 3, 2013.

Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged chronologically.

Physical / technical requirements:

Covers are cracked and flaking. Some loose pages. (2012)

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Sandra Kirkwood
Sponsor:
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-03-21T10:09-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.

Preferred citation:

Horton House Ledger Collection, MS 279, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Location of this collection:
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA 92101, US
Contact:
(619) 232-6203
Website