Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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After a time, things quieted down as many miners gave up, but the discovery of silver in Cali-
fornia and Nevada in 1859 gave the city another economic boost. Wells Fargo opened a bank, Levi
Strauss began a dry goods business, and Ghirardelli started a chocolate factory. Waves of Chinese
immigrants arrived to work on the railroads and created the city's Chinatown. Once the railroad was
completed, and the West Coast was linked to the East Coast overland, the city's future was assured.
Wealthy residents began to congregate on Nob Hill, so called because the rich “hobnobbed” there.
They built large and expensive mansions that were admired by everyone, even if many working-class
folks resented then. The city's Big Four—Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, Collis Huntington, and
Leland Stanford—led the way of developing the area.
As the state's first governor, Leland Stanford was driven to live the good life. His mansion, built
at a staggering cost of $2 million, was the first to be erected. It was considered at the time to be the
finest home in the nation, if not the most expensive. Many other mansions followed on Nob Hill, but
most were severely damaged or completely destroyed by the great earthquake and fire of 1906. Part
of Stanford's mansion wall and the fence that surrounded it remain today along the eastern side of
the Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel.
Following the destruction in 1906, Lucien Sly bought the property and erected the Stanford
Court apartment building. Later, that building was gutted, leaving only the shell, and the Stanford
Court Hotel opened in 1972. When the management under Stouffer hotels combined with Renais-
sance Hotels, the name was changed.
The Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel is truly a grand part of the history of the city of San
Francisco and a landmark in its own right.
The Stanford Court, A Renaissance Hotel
905 California Street, Nob Hill
San Francisco, California 94108
(415) 989-3500
