Hotel Rubidoux – Early Development on Mount Rubidoux
The first major attempt at development of the area immediately around the mountain began in 1887 with the formation of the Rubidoux Hotel Association led by Emil Rosenthal and with Albert White as president. Albert White had come to Riverside from New York and was the first paying guest at the Glenwood Hotel, moving into the newly opened edifice in November of 1878. Other early Riversiders involved were L.M. Holt, O. T. Dyer, Dr. Joseph Jarvis, Dr. C.J. Gill, S.C. Evans and John North. The Association received a portion of the mountain and surrounding area on the east side from the Riverside Water Company in exchange for bringing the needed water to the area from the San Bernardino artesian basin. The Association wanted to subdivide the property and sell the lots. In addition, they planned to build an elaborate tourist hotel at the foot of the mountain. By this time the “high detached hill” or “Riverside Mountain” was known by the name by which we know it today. The Riverside Daily Press in an article on the mountain described Rubidoux as “Historical Rubidoux, the trysting place of lovers, the sacred spot to which the feet of all visitors tend to obtain a view of our magnificent valley, was chosen as the place on which to erect the beautiful edifice.”
By August of 1887 work was begun on the hotel site above Pepper (now Redwood) between Ninth and Eleventh with completion scheduled for January of the following year. The Los Angeles Times reported: “The shock of the blasting on Little Rubidoux - where is to stand the mammoth hotel - is so great owing to its proximity to town, as to be almost startling, and as the giant powder throws masses of rock and smoke into the air, one might imagine the little mountain had become a volcano and was in full eruption.” The hotel was to have 250 rooms and was to rival the Hotel del Coronado. The eclectic plan was described as “a combination of the English, Gothic, and Swiss styles of architecture and with a touch now and then of Old Holland timber work.” (Riverside Daily Press, October 5, 1887). A total of $42,800 was spent on the initial plans, foundations, roads and framing before work was halted by the financial collapse of the period. Very few of the lots were sold. Then the mighty December winds of 1887 swept through Southern California and wrecked buildings in nearly every town. A great three-day windstorm felled windmills all over Riverside and pushed down the framework of the new hotel under construction near the base of Mount Rubidoux. Later attempts were made by members of the group to restart the venture but none came to fruition. Sometime between 1896 and 1899 the property reverted to the Riverside Water Company according to the Property Ownership Record Books from the County Assessor. Today some of the foundation stones from this early hotel attempt can still be found on the mountain.
