L. W. Currey, Inc.

(California; Monterey County; Monterey Peninsula; Hotel del Monte) Pacific Improvement Company. HOTEL DEL MONTE CALIFORNIA[.] GEO. P. SNELL, MANAGER. [San Francisco: Sunset Press], n.d. [Circa 1905]. 14x17.8 cm (oblong octavo), pp. [1-24] (not paginated), illustrations from photographs, publisher's pictorial tan wrappers printed in brown and white, stapled. First edition. On January 1, 1880, the first Southern Pacific Railroad passenger train arrived in Monterey. Six months later on June 10, 1880, the Pacific Improvement Company opened for business the Hotel Del Monte -- an upscale tourist resort -- located a stone’s throw away, and directly across from Monterey’s new Southern Pacific train depot. These two events, the arrival of the first passenger train and the opening of the Hotel Del Monte, launched the promotion of the Monterey Peninsula, by the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Pacific Improvement Company, as an appealing summer tourist destination. In addition to the the grounds of the hotel comprising 125 acres, the Pacific Improvement Company owned several thousand acres on the Peninsula. Beyond the Yosemite Valley of the high Sierra Mountains, few regions in the State of California rival the magnificent natural beauty of the Monterey Peninsula. With the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad to Monterey in 1880, the Peninsula quickly became a magnet for landscape painters from San Francisco, and beyond, wishing to express the awe-inspiring beauty of nature in the form of art. Several of the photographs show a mixture of automobiles and horse-drawn vehicles, so this well-illustrated promotional booklet was probably published shortly after 1900. Rocq 5715. A fine copy. (#178881).

Price: $185.00