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Hesperia Hotel 1887 - 1961
The Hesperia Hotel, built from 1887 to 1889, was the most dramatic evidence of Hesperia's increasing town status. Robert M. Widney, who bought the land that would become Hesperia, started construction of the hotel. At about 45 feet tall, 40 feet deep, and 65 feet long, this three-story adobe structure was quite the marvel in its time. The building was made of more than 40,000 handmade adobe bricks with an inter-floor communication system. Moreover, it also had running water in all levels of restrooms, which was a big development from the late 19th century.
The hotel prospered quite well for many years, even considering locals, not just travelers, up until it finally closed in 1926. The rerouting of the National Old Trails Road was given as the primary reason for this closure, since it diverted much traffic away from its once prime location. Eventually, it led to this once-thriving establishment falling into disuse.
It briefly saw a second life in the 1940s, when it was used by the Tatum family as a storage and dining space for potato field laborers. By the mid-1950s, plans had been laid by M. Penn Phillips, Hesperia's new developer, to revive the structure. Unfortunately, adobe bricks used in the hotel's construction had, over the years, deteriorated from exposure since they were never baked properly. The sun-dried bricks began to crumble, and any ideas for restoration were abandoned.
The old hotel finally met its demise in 1961 when the local volunteer fire department practiced a burn on the building. Following this time, what remained of the once grand building was bulldozed into its own basement and brought a close to this era for Hesperia.
