Volcano
St. George Hotel
The St. George Hotel is Volcano’s largest
structure. Dating back to 1863, this three-story
brick hostlery is the fourth hotel to stand on
this site, the previous three being destroyed by
fire. The Eureka House was the first hotel on the
site, built sometime prior to March of 1853, as
John Doble recorded attending a ball there in his
diary. It burned to the ground on September 4
of 1853. Doble reports seeing some of the boarders
“washing” the ashes the following day in an
effort to recover lost nuggets. Rachel and John
Myers rebuilt their Eureka House, opening with a
grand ball on December 23 of 1853. They had
rebuilt with wood. Henrietta George, wife of
Benjamin
F., purchased the hotel for $2,000 on June 1 of
1854, at which time it became known as the
“Empire House.” A fire on October 29 of 1859, the
work of an incendiary, broke out in an
uninhabited building on Consolation Street. The
Empire was among the many buildings destroyed by
the blaze. The Georges suffered a loss estimated
at $6,000. Undaunted, they rebuilt. Of wood. The
new hotel was renamed the St. George and it lasted
until October of 1862, when it and all the
other buildings on the block went up in flames,
started by a fire in the hotel itself. The last
time the hotel was rebuilt, it was constructed of
brick, which probably saved it from destruction
in 1868 when one of that year’s many fires
surrounded the building. Today the three-story
brick
building with the wooden balconies is the first
thing you’ll see upon entering town.
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