Vernon-Brannan House

Sam Brannan sold this lot in 1853 and bought the building back twelve years later. He was the man who ran through San Francisco with a bottle of dust shouting about gold, which started the rush and made him the richest man in California, and he ended it broke and forgotten in a Sonoma County town. Sacramento's first post office stood on the ground in 1849. The building has been the Jones Hotel, the Vernon House and the Brannan House, and it was raised nine feet in 1865.

What the plaque says

Vernon-Brannan House Sacramento's first post office was located on this lot in 1849. In 1853, Henry E. Robinson bought the lot from Samuel Brannan and built this three story brick building, naming it the Jones Hotel. The Sacramento Pioneer Association first organized in this building in 1854. In 1855, it became a boarding house called the Vernon House, owned by Miss O.J. Clark. In 1865, Samuel Brannan bought the building, turned it back into a hotel, and renamed it Brannan House. This building was lifted approximately nine feet in 1865. State Registered Historical Landmark No. 604 Memorial sponsored by the Estate of Bobbie Jo Castleman, 1926 - 2013, in cooperation with California State Parks

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sacramento — steps away
  The Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.

More markers nearby

• Site of Sacramento Union — steps away
• Site of Home of Newton Booth — steps away
• Eagle Theater — steps away
• Site of Orleans Hotel — steps away