A hundred years ago this year, La Jolla was a tiny seaside resort with the major component to encourage tourism missing. There wasn’t a single hotel in town for any visitors to stay after the short-lived La Jolla Park Hotel had burned down 12 years earlier.
A wealthy La Jolla resident who had arrived here only a few years before decided to take the matter in hand. In 1908, he started construction of the Cabrillo Hotel on Prospect Street, hiring architect Irving Gill as the designer.
The gentleman of note was James A. Wilson, officially known as Squire Wilson for most of the long life he spent here as a community leader and beloved citizen. The hotel he built and ran remains in operation today as part of La Valencia, which took over the smaller adjacent hotel in 1956.
When the Cabrillo was built it was considered a giant of its time, commanding an isolated ocean bluff with only a few seaside cottages surrounding. It was the first hotel on the Pacific Ocean north of Hotel del Coronado, boasting “40 large bedrooms with bath connections, steam heat, telephones and gas with grand views from each room “¦ of the ocean and the mountains.” Four steam and motor trains stopped virtually at the front door each day, running from San Diego. A large lobby furnished with Oriental carpets and a refined ladies parlor greeted visitors.
The Squire, his wife Harriet and two children lived at the hotel and personally cared for and greeted each of their guests. Before the hotel was built, the Wilsons had lived in La Jolla’s Heald House, the first residence that had been built in the village in 1887 at the intersection of Silverado and Exchange.
The Wilsons were prominent contributors to beautification programs, encouraging the paving of streets, the installation of lights and improvements at the Cove and Scripps Park. In 1924, the Squire organized a monumental La Jolla Jollification program to beautify and promote the town. His efforts were applauded on the occasion of his 85th birthday at Casa de Maãana (then also a resort hotel) in that same year, with kudos including a letter from President Woodrow Wilson.
Throughout his lifetime, the Squire maintained connections with leading national and international figures, some of whom he hosted at the Cabrillo. (Mark Twain and Buffalo Bill were close friends.) He had been born into a prominent family in 1840 in Manchester, England and, after a considerably good British education, came to the United States at age 19. After fighting with the Union Army in the Civil War, he moved to Nebraska and became involved with large land holdings. His daughter’s frail health encouraged the Wilsons to relocate to California in 1902.
In building the Cabrillo, Wilson justified his faith in a greater future of a community that at that time consisted of only about 35 cottages. To erect the structure, he used lumber from the old dancing pavilion that had stood at Scripps Park before it was razed. Gill’s modern design for the hotel raised eyebrows, and comments went around at the time to the effect that it was a coastal “high-rise.” But as Gill’s reputation became more established with La Jolla’s many buildings he later designed that were endowed by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, the Squire’s Cabrillo had winning acceptance. It remained the only hotel in La Jolla until the Colonial (now part of the Grande Colonial La Jolla) was constructed five years later. Now celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, it remains a valuable part of La Jolla history.
” “Reflections” is a monthly column written for La Jolla Village News by the La Jolla Historical Society’s historian Carol Olten. The Society, dedicated to the preservation of La Jolla heritage, is located at 7846 Eads Ave. and is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
