Baldwin Hotel (San Francisco)


Baldwin Hotel was a 19th-century luxury hotel and theatre built by Comstock Lode millionaire, entrepreneur, and gambler Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin, formerly in downtown San Francisco, California. It was located on Powell Street at the corner of Market Street, near the Union Square area.

History

The Baldwin Theatre was completed in 1875, and the Baldwin Hotel was completed around it in 1876. The hotel was designed in the Second Empire style by architect Sumner Bugbee.
The theatre featured touring performers and it was first known as Baldwin's Academy of Music. Most of the touring performers of the day appeared there. The hotel and theatre occupied the entire block. The ground floor was divided into a number of large stores.
A theatre attendee, Mrs. Frank Leslie, described the building in 1877:

Destruction

The entire building was destroyed by fire in 1898. Two people were killed, and the adjacent Columbia Theater building on Powell Street suffered considerable damage. After the Baldwin Hotel building was demolished, the Flood Building was built on the site in 1904.