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Tuesday's Internet Edition, January 06, 2009.
End of era as historic Sloughhouse Inn up for sale
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Photo courtesy of Jack Seigal
The Sloughhouse Inn is an historic landmark, but it stands empty while awaiting new ownership to revitalize the space. The current owners say they are 'looking for someone who will ensure the preservation of the inn.'
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By Wendy Smith
River Valley Times Staff
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The Sloughhouse Inn on Highway 16 has a history as long as California’s statehood. The history of the famous inn stretches back to 1850 when many pioneers and prospectors stopped there during the Gold Rush era. However, its doors currently stand closed, waiting for a new owner to preserve and reinvigorate the historic landmark.
In the modern era, the Sloughhouse Inn has been best known as a restaurant with a rustic and cozy atmosphere. The Inn closed its doors in 2006 after the death of Aileen Westerberg, who was the co-owner with her husband, Percy Westerberg.
Susan Westerberg Prager is the current trustee for the family. Westerberg Prager grew up in Sloughhouse and is now the president of Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Residents will certainly be relieved to know that she and husband Jim Prager are looking for someone to buy or lease the Sloughhouse Inn who will return it to its former glory. “We’re looking for someone with good ideas on how to use the space," said Jim Prager. "But more than that, we are looking for someone who will ensure the preservation of the inn - thereby contributing to the preservation of the community and its historical roots.”
Ideally, the family would like the Sloughhouse Inn to remain as a restaurant. For those interested in buying or leasing the inn, please call 213-300-9332.
The history of the Sloughhouse Inn is deep and renowned. In the early 1840s, Jared Dixon Sheldon made his way to California after a long and arduous journey during which he fell ill and was left behind by his party to find his own way.
A survivor in the truest sense, it was reported that he ate a coyote in order to stay alive. Upon his arrival, Sheldon made forays into several careers, but found he was most successful when it came to mills. He built several in areas from Monterey to San Jose. In 1846 he built a gristmill in Sloughhouse. It should be noted that this was prior to the formation of California as a state, and Sheldon was given the land by the then-Mexican government.
That same year, Sheldon married Catherine Rhoads (who was 15 at the time) and four years later they built the Sloughhouse Inn. This was ideally timed, as Highway 16 was then the major thoroughfare to the Amador mines in the midst of the Gold Rush.
The Inn flourished, and since it was also at the same time that California was accepted as a state, the inn drew more and more people from the eastern ends of the country heading westward for new opportunities.
Sheldon did not see much of the Inn’s success, however, as he was shot in a dispute with miners over a dam he had constructed that flooded their plots. Rhoads-Sheldon was widowed at the age of 19 and left with her three children, the youngest of whom was only 15 days old.
The Inn stayed with the Rhoads family line and had several reincarnations. The first of these was in 1890 when a fire completely destroyed the Inn, which was then rebuilt that same year. Floods have also been a particular plague to the low-lying inn, many times seeping into the lower levels.
Despite setbacks, the Sloughhouse Inn became a favorite stop of several important Californians such as former governor Leland Stanford.
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Online publication, Copyright 2005, The River Valley Times.
Web page design,
Copyright 2005, EZ Edit Web Publishing.
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