Historical Marker · No. 895
Hostess House
Palo Alto, Santa Clara County · California
Erected by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the City of Palo Alto, 1976
The building did its first job for about six months. The YWCA ran it at Camp Fremont from May to October 1918, a place where women and children could visit enlisted relatives. After the war the YWCA sold it to Palo Alto for a dollar; in May 1919 it was cut into nine pieces and carried across San Francisquito Creek, and it was dedicated as a community center on November 11, 1919. This bronze went up on the same date in 1976. From 1981 it housed a restaurant called MacArthur Park, named for a song rather than the general.
What the plaque says
Hostess House This building originally served Camp Fremont as a meeting place for servicemen and visitors. When moved from its original site to Palo Alto, it became the first municipally sponsored community center in the nation. It is the only remaining structure from California's World War I army training camps. Designed by Julia Morgan in 1918 for the YWCA, it was dedicated one year later to those who died in this war. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 895 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the City of Palo Alto, November 11, 1976.
Where it stands
37.44293, -122.16548 · Directions
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