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The Queen of American Watering Places -- The Newly reconstructed Hotel Del Monte

Fine example of this unrecorded broadside and birds eye view of the Hotel Del Monte, in Monterey, California, issued shortly after the hotel was re-constructed following the destruction of the first hotel by fire in 1887 and prior to the opening of the Del Monte Golf Club in 1897.

The title of the broadside was used in the hotel's advertising campaigns in 1891 and 1892.

The broadside provides a window into the early years of the Hotel Del Monte, an establishment of considerable historical significance in Monterey, California. Opened on June 3, 1880, under the auspices of the Pacific Improvement Company, an arm of the Southern Pacific Railroad directed by Charles Crocker, one of the legendary “Big Four” railroad barons, the hotel was one of the jewel resort properties during the Gilded age of American leisure and luxury. Conceived as the United States' first true resort complex, the hotel is a testament to the era's grandeur and the transformative power of the railroad in American society and landscape.

This broadside is centered on a bird's-eye view that captures the expansive grounds of the hotel, portraying the cultivated gardens, the elegant edifice with its expansive verandas, and the nearby natural splendor, with the town of Monterey and an approaching steam locomotive and ships in the distance.  

The property, designed by architect Arthur Brown Sr., initially encompassed vast gardens, parklands, and a race track. After the destruction of the original structure by fire in 1887, the hotel was swiftly rebuilt, demonstrating its importance and success. This period witnessed the creation of the famous 17-Mile Drive and the establishment of Pebble Beach and its renowned golf links. The hotel itself served as an anchor for these attractions, and by the close of the century, it was not only a local landmark but also a nationally recognized destination for the elite, including figures such as Theodore Roosevelt and Ernest Hemingway.

The Hotel Del Monte was also a cultural center, establishing its Art Gallery in 1907, which became a prestigious venue for California artists. The grounds featured the Roman Plunge Pool Complex, designed by Hobart and Tantau in 1918, and the Arizona Garden, designed by landscape architect Rudolph Ulrich in 1882, adding to the site's eclectic offerings.

By 1919, under the guidance of Samuel Finley Brown Morse, the hotel and its surroundings had transitioned to the ownership of the Del Monte Properties Company. The evolution of this establishment through its association with luxury, the arts, and sports like golf—its course being one of the oldest in continuous operation in the United States—highlights the changing face of American leisure activities at the turn of the century.

The Hotel Del Monte remained in operation until 1942, when the exigencies of World War II transformed it from a luxury hotel to a naval facility. In 1947, the Navy purchased the property, repurposing it into what would become the Naval Postgraduate School, thereby intertwining the hotel's legacy with that of military education and innovation. This broadside, therefore, represents not just an advertisement for a hotel, but a chronicle of American social, cultural, and military history, encapsulated within the narrative of a single significant structure. 

Rarity

The broadside is apparently unrecorded.