Lakeside Hotel Register, 1888 May 29–1889 September 21

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Summary

Title:
Lakeside Hotel Register
Dates:
1888 May 29–1889 September 21
Creators:
Lakeside Hotel.
Abstract:
Collection consists of one guest register from the Lakeside Hotel for the dates May 29, 1888 through September 21, 1889, listing guest names, residences, room numbers, and dates.
Extent:
1.5 Linear feet (1 box)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Lakeside Hotel Register, MS 21, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of one register for the Lakeside Hotel, manufactured by the Pacific Coast Hotel Register Co. Guests were recorded from May 29, 1888 through September 21, 1889. Each page lists columns for guest names, residence, room number, and time. Letters B, L, D, and S, were written on the ‘time’ column for each guest possibly representing breakfast (B), lunch (L), dinner (D), and supper (S).

A blotter page is found between each register page. Every blotter page has an advertisement for “Peruvian Bitters,” on one side and an advertisement for the San Francisco Examiner on the reverse. The San Francisco Chronicle and the Pacific Coast Hotel Register Co., the manufacturer of the register, each had an advertisement at the foot of every page.

The register documents notable San Diegans such as A.E. “Father” Horton, Milton and Homer Santee, O.J. Stough, Mr. and Mrs. George Marston, Judge M.A. Luce, Charles Hardy, Judge W.A. Sloane, Charles S. Hamilton, J.W. Sefton, Russell H. Gunnis, and Thomas Whaley. Hotel guests hailed from across the U.S. including New York, Boston, Cleveland, Portland, Topeka, and Washington D.C., as well as traveling from as far away as Jersey (British Channel Islands), London, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Mexico, Canada, China, and Samoa. Guests from Spokane Falls and Yuma listed their resident states as Washington Territory (W.T.) and Arizona Territory (AT), respectively. Horses were oftentimes recorded as additional guests to the hotel, written to the right of the time column.

Biographical / historical:

Martha Swycaffer (maiden name Ward) entered California via the Donner Pass with her family, the Ward party, arriving in San Diego in 1854. Martha married her husband, Joseph Swycaffer, in Old Town on April 27, 1857, becoming the second recorded American couple to be married in San Diego County.

The Lakeside Hotel, built by Martha Swycaffer in 1887, sat on the south side of Sycamore Street behind the Old Lakeside Store. The Hotel has also been refered to as the Lindo Hotel and the Lakeside Inn, which often causes confusion. The two story building originally served as a boarding house for construction workers on the Cuyamaca and Eastern Railroad. Martha had previously run a boarding house in Santee, but moved to Lakeside to be in the hustle and bustle of the railroad construction. The hotel had four bedrooms upstairs and one large bedroom, a kitchen and dining room downstairs. She also had a Chinese cook.

In 1893, the building moved to another location on Sycamore (Lakeshore Drive) and River Streets. In 1900 the Hotel was leased to the Martin family who ran it as a grocery store and post office for approximately five years. Charles Greenleaf also used it for headquarters to run his stagecoach to Alpine, Descanso, and Cuyamaca.

Martha Swycaffer and daughter Nettie returned to the hotel and used it as their residence in 1905. A year later, Nettie passed away. Nettie’s sister, Beatrice Price, also known as “Beaty” or “Aunt Beaty,” took over the hotel in 1908. Beatrice made many improvements to the hotel, building a two story addition with six bedrooms upstairs, three bedrooms downstairs, a parlor, and an office. After Martha Swycaffer passed away in 1924, her sister, Frances Corona or Fanny “Mother” Corona, inherited the property and ran it until 1941. She sold the hotel to Clark H. Thompson and Eldon G. “Curley” Petzoldt in 1941, ending the 54 years of Swycaffer family ownership.

Processing information:

Collection processed by Aimee Santos on September 20, 2011.

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:

The pages in the register are arranged chronologically.

Physical / technical requirements:

Front and binding covers are missing. Several pages are torn, frayed, and/or detached from binding. (September 13, 2011)

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Aimee Santos
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 Prepared:
September 20, 2011
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2012-06-07T11:09-0700

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:

Lakeside Hotel Register, MS 21, 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