Nearly Famous Hotel

The old Holbrook Hotel in its prime was reminiscent of a Spanish hacienda of which one could picture pots of flowers, cool adobe walls, pleasant breezes and a graciousness of a leisurely lifestyle. Okay, that could be an exaggeration. The picturesque place was located on a main thoroughfare, north and south, not too far from a major Railroad route and depot, east and west in a town that was a budding metropolis.

Along with the Hotel there was a plethora of stores and saloons, Cowboys and Indians, lawmen and lawbreakers, banks and bawdy houses, peace-loving frontierspeople-types and rowdy ne'er-do-wells. Plethora is a relative term comparing the number of businesses then with the businesses that are currently in our diminutive, anti-progress community. Alas....

The roadway through town changed. The RR business found other hot spots in which to make a profit such as Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The ambiance of the Holbrook tourist wonders was out-maneuvered and out-shined by MGM Grand and accommodations in Long Beach. Cowboys turned into ranchers and settled down. Ne'er-do-wells never did well and died out. Our traveler digs fell into dis-use, dis-repair and economic despair and was vacated except for rodents and the plethora of insects.

The nicely adorned and gracious old "gal" gradually turned skeletal and a bit haunted, and is now a subject for melancholy photographs. The painting I did of the edifice was done to preserve the feel for a long ago era. There were two versions, the first with a lighter sky and the final version with a stormy sky (much better) and a comparison of what a change of sky does for the old gal.


Travelers on the north-south road used to pass by the hotel. It was a spot of interest because of its cultural architecture. When a new road through town completely by-passed the hotel, it was another slight for it faded glory.


Although the building is in a state of ruin, there is still a lovely sense of style and culture that isn't present in modern places. The beams have a charm for light and shadow, texture and patina and a ballet of lines.

In its better times, the Holbrook Hotel must have seemed to be the essence of luxury.