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Article: The Gold Country's historic hotels: a guide to 11 of the most enduring places to rest your head in California's Mother Lode.
- Article from:
- Sunset
- Article date:
- April 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Sunset Publishing Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A guide to 11 of the most enduring places to rest your head in California's Mother Lode
Back in the 1850s and '60s, when the mines in California's Gold Country were booming and rough camps with names like Hang-town aspired to a veneer of culture, the opening of a new hotel loudly proclaimed prosperity. It also hinted at respectability, although neither miners nor travelers seemed to care whether it was gaudy or glamorous.
Richly decorated with polished brass fixtures, crystal chandeliers, and solid oak furniture, Mother Lode hotels were democratic outposts of civilization. Writers such as Mark Twain held forth in their saloons; artists such as Jenny Lind were ...