File:Arcadia Hotel, Santa Monica, Cal (clloy 018).jpg
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DescriptionArcadia Hotel, Santa Monica, Cal (clloy 018).jpg

English: View of the Arcadia Hotel in Santa Monica, with gardens and a lawn in the foreground.

Physical Description: 1 postcard : Color ; 9 x 14 cm.

Historical Background: The Arcadia Hotel opened for business in 1887 and was located on Ocean Avenue between Railroad Avenue (later known as Colorado Avenue) and Front (later known as Pico Boulevard)" The Arcadia was the largest structure in Santa Monica at the time of its construction. The 125-room hotel was owned by J.W. Scott, the proprietor of the city's first hotel, the Santa Monica Hotel. The hotel was named for Arcadia Bandini de Baker, the wife of Santa Monica cofounder Colonel R. S. Baker. The Arcadia Hotel was a landmark, hailed as one of the finest hotels in Southern California in its day. However, like many hotels in the area, the Arcadia hotel was forced to close in times of slow business; the hotel closed for one year from 1888-1889, and permanently in 1906 when the building boom subsided. In 1907, there was a failed attempt to convert the hotel into a private school for the California Military Academy, but the property stood abandoned until it was demolished in 1909 to make room for beach improvements, homes, and hotels.