PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY FOR CALIFORNIA ARCHAEOLOGY
1988-2004
“A Hotel as a Household: Interpreting the Contents of the Railroad Exchange Hotel Well”
Julia E. Huddleson
Abstract
The Railroad Exchange Hotel (1864-1938), one of the first constructed in West Oakland, catered to skilled laborers primarily employed by the Central Pacific Railroad. The hotel was owner-occupied and had a restaurant and bar. Recent excavations of the hotel's well yielded a large variety of artifacts including well-preserved perishable items. Through analysis of the artifacts, it is possible to differentiate between items from the hotel's daily activities and those used by the hotel's residents. This paper will examine how analysis of artifacts contributes to our understanding of 19th-century residential hotel life as a household in the emerging community of West Oakland.