Located on Miner Street in "Old Town" Yreka between Broadway and Third Streets, the building with the "pink" second story and the "green" ground floor was originally known as the W. W. Powers Building, and had three different business suites in a single story when it was built in 1879. In 1882 the second story was added with 22 rooms and it became the Powers Hotel. A few years later, in 1888, the business became known as the Clarendon Hotel and operated for more than 75 years under that name! In 1897 the building underwent extensive remodeling and was the first hotel in Yreka to be wired for electricity! It also had a very nice observation deck off of the second story which also served as a covered walkway for patrons and people walking along the boardwalk below. This deck was often favored during festivities and parades as it afforded a great view. In a description of the Clarendon Hotel in 1891 it was advertised that the rates for a room began at $1.25. According to historical information the Clarendon Bar was in a building adjacent to the Hotel. A fine image of this hotel as it was seen when relatively "new" can be found in the 1976 Siskiyou Pioneer, an annual publication of the Siskiyou County Historical Society. Reprints of this book may still be available at the Siskiyou County Museum located at 910 S. Main Street in Yreka, California.
The building is brick with a stucco finish as it appears today in the photo above. The basic structure of the building has not drastically changed, although the windows on the ground floor business suites have been modernized and enlarged considerably. The upstairs windows appear similar to early photos of the building with the curved archway at the top. The stucco exterior was likely added sometime after the turn of the century.
The street level has accommodated various businesses throughout the many years this building has stood. The current paint theme certainly brings notice to the building but is not a exterior color scheme that this writer believes would have been viewed after the turn of the century when the original brick was stuccoed.
Copyright: Claudia East, 2008
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