288 DAYSSan Francisco · 1915
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Inside Inn

The only hotel inside the fairgrounds: a 638-room concession near the Baker Street gate that did more business than any other concession at the fair.

The Inside Inn on a period postcard
The Inside Inn on a period postcardPostcard c. 1915, Alma Sandøy collection, Arkiv i Nordland · CC BY 2.0

Its advertisement in the Official Guide promised 'The only hotel within the grounds' of the exposition, 'under the supervision of the Exposition management.' Emmett W. MacConnell and associates built it near the Baker Street entrance, with about 638 rooms, at a cost of about $375,000. It opened on January 15, 1915, a month before the fair, with every outside room claiming a private bath, telephone and steam heat, and rates from $1 to $5 a day on the European plan.

Todd called it 'the best hotel ever built in the grounds of an exposition.' Its grill and ballroom often served as a convention hall, and many delegates made it their exposition home. It was also the fair's biggest business: its gross of over $675,000 was the largest of the more than 450 concessions. Meals were famously reasonable, with breakfast at 75 cents, lunch at $1.00 and dinner at $1.50, all 'generous meals of several courses,' and prices were cut further toward the close.

Just north of the Inn lay the Musical Concourse, a terraced rectangle about 200 by 350 ft that could seat some 11,000 people on benches around a circular bandstand 41 ft across.

It was the best hotel ever built in the grounds of an exposition.

Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. 2 (1921)

At a glance

  • Guests still had to pay the regular daily admission to the grounds (Union Pacific guide, 1915, as reproduced on Commons).
  • The Inn was a 'Class M' concession, with its revenue verified daily by an exposition employee stationed there (Todd vol. 2).
  • The Musical Concourse bandstand held a band of 102 pieces (Todd vol. 2, ch. LXXIV).

Afterward

Not recorded in the sources consulted; like every building except the Palace of Fine Arts, it was demolished after the fair (Wikipedia: Marina District). The area is now Marina District near the Presidio's Lyon Street edge.

The site today

Present-day photographs and video of this spot are being made for the film; each frame below is a slot for one of them.

Today · photograph to comeLyon Street at the Presidio wall

Lyon St at Bay St, looking north along the Presidio wall toward the palace

Have a photo of this spot? Email it to hello@288days.com with code S29 and up to 50 characters of credit. It appears here and in the film.

Sources