Blue Wing Inn

The Native Sons cast this tablet in October 1941, a month after the building nearly came down. The Pinelli family had weighed demolishing it until Rosa Pinelli sold it that September for $2,500 to Alma de Bretteville Spreckels and her husband, Elmer Awl. The guest list is local tradition, bandits included, though soldiers did lodge here in the Gold Rush. The state bought the adobe in 1968. Flagged as a seismic hazard in 1990, it has stood empty since 2001 while its future use is debated.

What the plaque says

Blue Wing Inn Erected by General Mariano G. Vallejo about 1840 for the accommodation of emigrants and other travelers. Purchased in Gold Rush days by Cooper and Spriggs, two retired sea-faring men and operated as hotel and store. Among first hostelries in Northern California. Notable guests, according to local tradition, included John C. Fremont, U.S. Grant, Governor Pio Pico, Kit Carson "Fighting Joe" Hooker, William T. Sherman, Phil Sheridan and members of Bear Flag Party. Classed among the notorious visitors were Bandit Murietta and "Three-Fingered Jack." Placed by Historic Landmarks Committee Native Sons of the Golden West October 1941

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Presidio of Sonoma (Sonoma Barracks) — steps away
• Bear Flag Monument — steps away
• Swiss Hotel — steps away
• Salvador Vallejo Adobe — steps away