PC-000-906A

Picture postcard of San Diego and Bay, with the 1913 Hotel St. James in San Diego, California

 

circa 1939

 

 

This picture postcard has a line drawing of the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego with the San Diego Bay and an airplane and ships in the background. At 11 stories, the St. James Hotel was the tallest building in San Diego when it was built in 1912, opened in 1913. The rooftop continues to command a view of downtown in 2013, when it is operated as the Ramada Gaslamp/Convention Center. This was not the first St. James Hotel in San Diego. Shown here and on other picture postcards in this collection (PC-000-902, -904, -905, and -906), this St. James Hotel was preceded by one on F Street built in 1885 and described as San Diego's first "skyscraper." Hyman S. Wolf with his brother and cousin built this St. James Hotel in the San Diego Gaslamp Quarter in anticipation of the Panama-California Exposition of 1915. The sign "Hotel St. James" is an addition to the original building, here dated to as far back as 1939 with the postmark on the back of this card. The artist signed the drawing in the left-hand corner, the signature is illegible.

St. James Hotel; San Diego; Hotels; Skyscrapers; High-rise buildings; San Diego Bay; Gaslamp Quarter; Airplanes; Coronado Islands; Spanish Bight; Point Loma

 

California - San Diego

 

 

MS-0008

English

Johnson-Hamel Photolith, San Diego, California, US

Postcard

3.5 inches x 5.5 inches

Yes

PC-000-906B;Journal San Diego History Apr 1956 V2 #2, N. Pearson, "The Glittering St. James Hotel" for older hotel; San Diego History Center photograph #1876-2 (1914); Marker #73 by Gaslamp Quarter, front of St. James Hotel; PC-000-902, -903, -904, -905

[printed at the top of the drawing]
San Diego, California

[sign on rooftop of hotel]
Hotel St. James

[sign on side of hotel] Hotel St. James

 

Image

TIFF

12.94 MB