Hotel Stockton

HISTORY

People felt that a high-class hotel was needed for Stockton visitors, so in 1903 a small group of local citizens drafted a proposal and funds were publicly raised. The building was designed by Edgar B.Brown in the Mission-revival style. Completed in 1910, the Hotel Stockton was strategically placed near the waterfront and was the first steel-reinforced building in San Joaquin County. The 252-room hotel included a rooftop garden pavilion, with a fountain in the center and pergolas at the corners. The structure has symmetrical towers and chimneys decorated with domes and arches. The exterior is covered with plaster and the sheet-metal roof tiles mimic the clay rooftop tiles of the Spanish missions.

Originally, if you wanted to rent a room at the Hotel Stockton, and you wanted a private bath, you paid a steep $2per day. If you didn’t mind sharing bathroom facilities, you paid a modest $1per day. In the early 1900s, the Hotel Stockton was home to the Central California Traction Company which operated one of the local trolley services. In fact, Stockton was one of the first cities in the United States to have electric-powered trolleys.

Restored and re-openedinMarch 2005, the Hotel Stockton now has 156 apartments in the upper floors for low and fixed-income residents.