Overview

In 1899, the Albemarle Hotel was in operation in San Diego, CA. (See San Diego, California, City Directory, 1899, p. 306.)

Building History

Arthur Graham Nason (born 07/07/1856 in New York, NY) and James T. Fisher commissioned the construction of the Albemarle Hotel; this pair also financed the construction of at least two office buildings in San Diego at about the same time, the Pickwick Building and the Gould Building. (See An Illustrated History of Southern California, [Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1890,], p. 382.)

Fisher lived in the Albemarle Hotel when it opened in 1888. A passage from James T. Fisher's autobiography concerned the Albemarle Hotel and its horse and wagon used to transport travelers from the railroad station to his establishment: "I had built and at that time I owned the Albemarle Hotel in downtown San Diego. In a moment of disgust I had bought a rickety old wagon and a tired old horse.. to haul baggage from the depot for the benefit of hotel guests and other interested parties. And I watched this modest enterprise grow into the San Diego and Coronado Transfer company of which I was President; boasting dozens of up-to-the-minute highly varnished wagons brought in from Illinois. And in addition to the horses needed here, I owned and operated one of the better livery stables." (See James T. Fisher, A Few Buttons Missing: The Case Book of a Psychiatrist, [Murawai Books, 2017, reprinted from a 1951 edition], n.p.)

The Albemarle Hotel opened in 1888, a period of great real estate speculation in San Diego. The Albemarle Hotel's original hotel register has been preserved by the San Diego History Center (SDHC). An Online Archive of California record for the SDHC stated of the register: "The Albemarle Hotel was built in 1888, during a brief economic boom, on the corner of Front Street and Broadway in downtown San Diego. The hotel billed itself as a family hotel, but was popular with officers of the ships docked at the nearby bay, as well as traveling performance and comedy troupes. The hotel suffered financial hardship and eventually came under the ownership of Ben Hill, a rancher from El Cajon who later became sheriff." (See Online Archive of California, "Guide to the Albemarle Hotel Register MS 14," accessed 05/14/2018.)

A note in the magazine Hotel World of 1892 stated: "C.C. Loomis has sold his interests in the Albemarle Hotel, San Diego, Cal...." (See "Twenty Five Years Ago," Hotel World, vol. LXXXV, no. 9, 09/01/1917, p. 18.)

PCAD id: 21994