Plaza Hotel

This bronze starts the building as a barracks for the soldiers guarding the mission. The state's register, updated the same year, puts a dormitory first and dates the adobe to 1792, five years before Mission San Juan Bautista was founded. The Native Sons, who helped place the bronze, write on their own history site that it first housed the mission's Indigenous converts and laborers, Mutsun people among them, and the town's walking trail agrees. Soldiers are recorded here in 1813 and 1814. Even the hotel's opening is disputed: the bronze says January 1859, the walking trail June 1856.

What the plaque says

Castro/Breen Adobe and Plaza Hotel The Castro/Breen adobe is associated with the early development and settlement of Mexican California. The adobe is an excellent example of blended eastern and western building methods first produced in Monterey to form the Monterey Colonial architectural style. The adobe served as headquarters and residence to Jose Antonio Castro, Commandant General of Alta California, and later to Donner Party survivors Patrick Breen and family. The Plaza Hotel originated as a one-story adobe barracks and two-story guardhouse for soldiers protecting Mission San Juan Bautista across the street. After secularization in 1835, the building became a home and general store for the Anzar family. The building was rented and later sold to Italian immigrant Angelo Zanetta who added a wooden second story and opened the Plaza Hotel in January 1859. The hotel became noted for its fine cuisine and liquors. In the 1860s San Juan Bautista became a stop for seven stagecoach lines. The hotel welcomed travelers, business men, and traveling salesmen. When the New Idria quicksilver mine opened just to the southeast, even more patrons frequented the hotel. State Registered Historical Landmarks No. 179 & 180 Plaque placed by the Native Sons of the Golden West, the California State Parks Foundation, and California State Parks Rededicated 2014, the 150th anniversary of California State Parks

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Castro-Breen Adobe — steps away
• Mission San Juan Bautista and Plaza — steps away
• Fremont Peak — 6.2 mi
• Battle of Natividad — 6.2 mi