Building History

The first Arrowhead Springs Hotel, located in the San Bernardino Mountains north of San Bernardino, opened in the summer of 1884.

This resort hotel burned on the morning of 03/17/1885. A report in the Sacramento Daily Union stated: "The Arrowhead Hot Springs Hotel caught fire this morning and is still burning, with a prospect of its becoming a total ruin. It was completed by Darby & Lyman at an expense of about $15,000, and had been built only about eight months. It was insured for about $7,000 or $8,000." A second account, under the title, "Second Dispatch," was also published in this issue of the Daily Union: "Your correspondent has just returned from the scene of the destruction at Arrowhead. He found the building and contents nearly a total loss, very little furniture being saved. The fire originated in the laundry department about 8 o'clock. The hotel being well supplied with water appliances, an attempt was made to save the building, but the flames spread with such rapidity that the whole structure was soon wrapped in flames. An attempt was then made to save the effects but too late. The guests lost more or less their clothing, and some have only what was on their persons. They are being conveyed to this town from the springs, which are about six miles to the north. A laborer by the name of Binn was severely burned about the head and neck, also his hands. The exact cause of the fire is not known, but it is thought the Chinamen started a fire, and it originated through their carelessness. The insurance was $6,500. The total loss will foot up to nearly if not quite $15,000. It was paying a good revenue, and will be rebuilt." (See "Hotel Destroyed by Fire," Sacramento Daily Union, vol. 53, no. 21, 03/18/1885, p. 1.) It is not unexpected that Chinese laborers would be blamed for the blaze (whether or not they were negligent), given the hostility towards Chinese-Americans at the time.

A third hotel replaced this first inn.

PCAD id: 4933