California
House, afterwards St. Charles Hotel, Afterwards Remington House
Text Source: Syracuse and
Its
Environs, by
Franklin H. Chase, Lewis Historical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL, 1924, pp.
313-315
The California House wasn't
much of a hotel, but it was such a popular restaurant that the other
hotel proprietors around "the old depot" prevailed upon the railroad
superintendent to close the doorway of the station so that the train
passengers would not see the first hotel upon the site of the present
University Building, to be succeeded by the St. Charles Hotel, in its
time one of the famous hotels of Syracuse. The California House
was a
small brick structure built by Earl B. Alvord in 1848.
Richard Savage, who was born in Syracuse in 1817, and was at one time a
canal boat captain, was the builder of the St. Charles Hotel.
Judge Bigelow, of Baldwinsville, advanced $40,000 for the
structure. The new hotel was quite the pride of the young
city. It was after the style of several prominent Southern hotels
of the period, with iron balconies upon each story upon both Washington
and Warren streets. The balcony effect was the fire safety
assurance of the time. Mr. Savage was the first landlord of the
new hotel and its opening was with a "grand party" attended by the
leading citizens of Central New York. Among the guests were
Mr. and Mrs. John Crouse, General and Mrs. E. W. Leavenworth, Moses D.
Burnet, Patrick Lynch, Hamilton and Howard White and T. B. Fitch.
Dr. A. J. Dallas then lived in Camillus and he got up a party and
brought it down for the occasion. There were many parties from
surrounding towns, and it was called the most brilliant public function
held in the city up to that time. For thirty-four years the St.
Charles Hotel was in service as a hostelry of one kind or another.
In the later 'fifties and 'sixties there were no social clubs.
But the reading room of the St. Charles Hotel answered the
purpose. That was the gathering place of the men about
town. Among the well known citizens to be met there evenings were
William C. Ruger, William J. Wallace, John J. and D. Edgar Crouse,
Charles T. Redfield, George Hosmer, Patrick Lynch, Jacob S. Smith,
Harmon W. Van Buren, Henry D. Denison, D. P. Wood, Horace K. White and
others. it was in the halls of the St. Charles that the young men
of the city who were noted for their elegance of attire were to be
met. Among the younger leaders of fashion were Mr. Hosmer, Harvey
Baldwin, Andrew J. Smith, Henry Shankland, James H. Hinman, Charles T.
Redfield and Chris Bronson. Dennis Valentine and Gen. John A.
Green also achieved note for their attire, the latter being invariably
dressed in black and wearing a long frock coat. John Brooks was
the city's most noted tailor in that period.
While for a time the St. Charles seemed to thrive it could not quite
meet the competition for what was then called the "depot trade," and
there came a mortgage foreclosure, when Payne Bigelow, son of
Judge Bigelow, had to bid in the hotel for $40,000 - the amount
advanced. Mr. Savage went into the lumber trade. He died
August 11, 1885, a dozen years before the old building into which he
put so much thought and for which he had so much pride, was torn down
to make way for the University Building.
Changing values in city property invariably interest. When Mr.
Bigelow bid in the St. Charles, he was quite willing to sell it for the
amount he had put into it - $40,000. He offered it to Patrick
Lynch, who had invested much in business real estate, for that
amount. Within twenty years the land was valued at much more than
$200,000.
The St. Charles degenerated into a second and third-class hotel.
The office was moved upstairs from the corner of Washington and Warren
streets, and finally became a mere boarding house, and the days when
hotel guests and the men of the city sat upon the balconies in the
evening were gone. Its last notoriety was during a Democratic
State Convention in the 'seventies. Hubert O. Thompson, the
dominating influence of the New York Democracy, had played the sharp
trick of securing the Vanderbilt and Globe hotels during the
convention. John Kelly and the Tammany delegation were driven to
chartering the St. Charles, which was then called the Remington House,
the ownership having passed to the Remingtons, who gave it to the
University.
Submitted 3 April 2006 by Pamela
Priest