Emigrant Gap Hotel/Allen Hotel/Woodmen Lodge/Bright Lodge

From: "Carol Guida" jguida@pacbell.net

My husband and I recently purchased the Emigrant Gap Hotel – Annex as our family lodge. Since we purchased the property from the bank we are still trying to piece it's history together. We have been in contact with a friend of Leona Bright (an owner from the 60's we believe) and have a bit of the history.

What we are trying to find out is – was our site (not our annex of course since it was built in the early 1900's) on the Dutch Flat/Donner Lake Wagon Road? And - if so, should we be able to locate some kind of marker? Emigrant Gap has been changed so many times - the railroad, highway 40, highway 80 – there is little left here.

If you can help us find out if we were on the wagon road and how to look for signs of it - that would be great. Also – we have only been able to locate a very few historic photos of our town. If you can refer us to someplace to look for more – that would be great. ...

—Carol Guida

"Queen Victoria and Queen Anne leave their mark in Sonoma"

"Queen Victoria and Queen Anne leave their mark in Sonoma" by George McKale, © Sonoma Valley Sun, January 5, 2012. (Article – architecture)

" ... While on a river boat in Sacramento in 1855, Ida Pfeiffer writes in A Lady’s Journal Round the World, 'The men, one and all, showed the utmost attention and politeness to our sex. Old or young, rich or poor, well or ill-dressed, every women was treated with respect and kindness. ... '
... The architecture of the Victorian era became very popular as people were tired of simplistic residential designs and intrigued by the new highly decorative features of this period. ... A consumer economy was created by the Industrial Revolution ... The First Transcontinental Railroad ... accelerated west coast desires for Victorian era architecture. Pre-cut architectural pieces manufactured in the east were now available en masse in the west. Consumers no longer had to wait for boats to make the long journey by sea. ... " [More]

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]