Hotel Leger

Mar 5, 2012 by editor

In 1853, George W. Leger, an immigrant from Prussia, purchased the Hotel de France established in 1851 .This canvas and wooden structure was destroyed in the 1854 fire, replaced by a single-story building of brick and rhyolite with four French doors and four window facing Main Street.

The ballroom at the rear soon hosted socials and benefit gatherings, drawing participants from distant mining camps. By 1858 the hotel’s name had been changed to Hotel de Europe.

After 1866 when the county seat moved to San Andreas, the adjacent two-story stone building housing the courthouse and county government offices was purchased by George and W. P. Peek. In 1874, after Leger’s hotel was once again destroyed by fire, he purchased the neighboring courthouse structure and included it as part of his new two-story Hotel Leger.

George W. Leger died in 1879, whereupon the hotel was operated by a succession of owners including Muth, Hexter and Greve. This photo from about 1900, shows the canvas shades that were dropped to keep out both sun and dust. (Courtesy Mokelumne Hill History Society)