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| The Hartsook Inn |
I’ve often said that “I’m not really a historian, but I do know where most of the bodies are buried”. So, as one might guess, I know quite bit about the fabled Hartsook Inn. The Hartsook Inn was built by Fred Hartsook, (1876-1930) a man who was mostly known as a famous photographer. Fred Hartsook operated about twenty photography studios. He owned what was reputed to be “The largest photography business in the world”. He took the official photographs of most all of the famous people of the day, and all the great movie stars. He made the official Presidential photograph of Woodrow Wilson.
In 1919 Hartsook married Bess Hesby who was “Miss Liberty in the 1915 San Francisco “Pan-Pacific Exposition“. Fred took his honeymoon at a cabin in the redwoods, at the present location of the Hartsook Inn. I’m not sure how he got there, but it was about the time that Highway 101 was opened through Richardson Grove. According to Nona James, she drove up highway 101 before it was opened to the public. She said that it was in 1917 or 1918.
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| Bess Hartsook |
Fred and Bess Hartsook had three children: Helen, Frederick, and Delyte. Fred Hartsook also had a daughter, Francis, from a previous marriage.
In the early 1920s Fred and Bess purchased 37 acres of pristine redwood forest and built the Hartsook Inn. By 1926 the resort was given it’s own township status, and was granted a United States Post Office. It even had a gas station! That makes it a bona fide town! The town was called “Hartsook” California. In August of 1927 the Hartsook Inn burned to the ground in a large forest fire. Uncontrolled forest fires were very common back then. They had no real way to fight them. Fortunately the redwoods were not permanently damaged and they grew back better than ever. The Inn was rapidly rebuilt and reopened. Fred had a good rapport with the Hollywood crowd, having taken most of their photographs. The Hartsook became the Hollywood group’s playground. Many would take extended vacations up here in the redwoods. The more notable among them were Mary Pickford and Bing Crosby.
As a side note, my grandfather Bill Rathjens, who owned a service station in Laytonville, was also a Kohler Light Plant dealer. He provided the Hartsook Inn with their first electricity.
On 30 September 1930, Fred Hartsook died of a heart attack at the age of 53. That often happens to old men that marry beautiful young women. Bess Hartsook outlived her husband by forty-six years and operated the Hartsook Inn until 1938. In 1938 the Hartsook went into receivership, strangely, the place burned down again… ( due to a fire in the kitchen… WINK) The Inn was rebuilt and reopened in 1941, just in time for world war II.
The Lingenfelters, Darrell and Dorothy, took over the management and ownership of the Hartsook Inn. They did quite well with it through the years. A fellow by the name of Chet Willows managed the place with his wife, Julie, who retired to Phillipsville and just recently died. I’m not sure of the ownership of the Inn during that tenure. Maybe the Willows owned it. I remember the Harsook kitchen back in the 60's. They had an executive Chef. (I'm sorry, but I forgot his name) The chef was the typical Chef, he ran things like an orchestra conductor. He was very firm, and he checked every plate that left the kitchen. If it wasn't perfect, there was hell to pay. Everything in the kitchen would stop, on the spot, there would be a lecture as to what went wrong and why it would never happen again. The kitchen had a "pantry chef" that did all the salads, pates, and cold appetizers. There was a souse chef, a pastry chef, and various cooks and helpers, plus a bus staff that cleaned and reset all the tables. They had a dishwashing staff that kept all the plates and silverware cleaned and polished.
The female summer help, mostly high-school and college students from Eureka, lived over the kitchen. It was hot up there, in every way. I remember coming down to the dances next door at French's campground. The girls from Hartsook would come over to dance, but they had a 10:00 PM curfew, so they had to leave early. They had a house mother that lived up there with them and she did periodic nose counts, much needed nose counts, because the girls all imagined themselves to be in love with one of the local "country boys".
While under the propriety of the Lingenfelters, there was no alcohol served at the Hartsook. No way. Absolutly not. Don't even bring your own Bottle! If God had intended for you to get drunk he would have given you alcohol! Alcohol is the root of all evil. I have heard many lectures about alcohol from the Lingenfelters. Back in 1983 I was the president of the Garberville Rotary club. Any thought of alcohol was sternly disaproved of by Darrell, who was also a member of the club. I was a juror on a drunk driving trial with Dorothy. The judge asked her if she had ever taken a drink of alchohol. She firmly stated that she had not! Taken aback, he went on to ask her, "Not even a sip? Do you know what it tastes like?" That is the first and last time that I ever heard a judge get a lecture and give an oppology. He then thanked her and excused her. It was hilarious.
My mother Elsie Branscomb and my aunt Vivian Newland owned an ice cream parlor, soda fountain, and sandwich shop in Garberville. They made premium, high butterfat content ice cream, 14% butterfat. A few people even rave about it today. (me) They made Creme-de-menthe ice-cream for the Harsook Inn. I often chuckle about knowing that mom made it with creame-de-menthe Liquor. 20% ALCOHOL.
The Inn burned down again in 1973. I was a firefighter at that fire. C.D.F Battalion Chief Harry Pritchard was the Incident Commander on the fire. Harry went on to become Humboldt county 2nd District Supervisor. I also might add that Harry and I were relatives. Both from old local families that go back to the 1800’s. I was assigned the north end of the building. AHEM… the part of the building that was saved! Never mind that it was also the only part of the building that was not on fire yet when the firefighters got there. We sent a pumper truck to the river to provide the water to fight the fire. We didn’t save much, but once again it was rapidly rebuilt. What you see today when you drive past the rapidly deteriorating building is the 4th Hartsook Inn to be built on the same basic foundation.
The most recent history of the Hartsook is, that it was bought by Richard Head, who also owned the Phillipsville Trailer Park and the Deerhorn Lodge. Head added a liqour license and bar, he also upgraded the kitchen. He had a very popular local Chef in the kitchen by the name of Kieth Tommson (sp?) Tommson operated the Trees Restaurant in Garberville, until it burned down. Homeless people had moved into the basement. Nobody asked them to leave because they felt sorry for them. It is unknown whether the fire was caused by the homeless, or if somebody burned them out. Sadly, any building the the homeless occupy, unsupervised, burns down. Fact of life #23. I've seen far too much of it.
Richard Head didn't do as well as he hoped that he would, he consequently took out a timber harvest plan to log the redwoods on the property. He cut a few, but the save the redwoods league asked him to stop. He did, and they purchased the Hartsook property. They in turn sold it to the same people that bought Heartwood College at Island Mountain, Bennett and Delphina Dorrance. I've heard numerous rumors that it may become a branch campus of Heartwood.
It's sad the way things go with some of our local history. Maybe the Dorrences will revive some of The Harsook Inn's former glory.
http://www.groupsrv.com/movie/about75181.html Click on link, then scroll down a bit for the story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hartsook
http://savetheredwoods.org/newsroom/pr/pr_hartsook.pdf
http://rosieradiator.com/id3.html
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Posts
66 comments:
I remember the billboards with the big red heart that used to advertise Hartsook Inn when I was a child. It seemed to me that it must be a romantic place. It also seemed to me that it must be an expensive place because, just as with Benbow Inn, we always drove right on by and never stopped.
It was "High-Dollar Fare", but darn well worth it.
It was also a very romantic place to stay. Many honeymoons were spent there. Also many proposals (and Propositions) were made there
Great to relive the old times. Sad to hear the Inn burnt down again. I worked there right out of H.S. (South Fork) in 1964 & lived above the kitchen. Thanks for the memories!
I also remember the "fake" highway patrol car that sat out in front. HaHa
Anon SF '64 grad.
WHO was the house mother???
I had for gotten about the fake CHP car. There was all kinds of opinion about it. Some said that it caused accidents, because it was distracting.
i don't know anything about the heartbreak hotel. but my aunt ruth who is 100 years old answered some of my questions about the old days. she said
absolutely grandma laura was not indian. but her grandson howard used to tease her that she was and she told him that she'd take a tomahawk to him. she said, please don't say she was indian.
when the simmerlys first moved to covelo, they lived on top of the ridge on the east side of covelo.
they had a live and let live relationship with george white. so they got along ok with him.
she said the story about weck mcpherson who was a sherrif in covelo killing kate simmerlys half sister martha as told in genocide and vendetta is pure baloney.
she said that our ancestors got along better than most with the indians and they left each other alone.
she was very interested in me finding rachel drennan john simmerlys grandmother's roots in ireland. i later found out that the drennans were probably scotch irish because they lived in antrim ireland which is 20 miles from scotland and james the first of scotland gave that land to the scots 250 years ago. they were the first protestants in ireland. when the catholic church began persecuting them in the middle 1700's thousands of them moved to america in pennsylvania, the cumberland valley near the shawnee.
she also said that we are difinitely NOT jewish.
if anyone has any questions, i will send them to her. i did ask if she knew any leggetts for river.
Having worked at Hartsook I felt the loss of the place to Save the Redwoods League that sorta destroyed the continuity of the place as a beautiful resort in the redwoods. I had a plan for its revival using the romance of the name in securing romantic getaways all through the year by running constant ads in travel magazines. Heartwood can't ever revive the Hartsook Inn's glory days because it's just another business enterprise for entrepreneurs, counterculture yuppie-centered ones training people to serve the dwindling population of pot rich hippies in Heartwood's case..
My experience at the Hartsook was surreal. It was in the late 1980s, or early 1990s. I stopped in for a late lunch. It was very elegant. I was the only one in the dining room, except for a guy playing the piano. All of a sudden I heard yelling. A man in an apron came out of the kitchen. He was followed by a fellow wearing a chef's hat and holding a large knife. The chef and the man with the apron yelled and cursed at each other. The chef yelled "I'm going to fucking kill you." The piano man kept on playing. The two men came and went from the kitchen, yelling and cursing. It was a great show. The food was OK, but was clearly missing every chef's favorite ingredient: love.
Ernie,Thanks for the history about the Inn!! I always wondered about it. Traveled past it many many times in the fifties.
My grandparents worked at Lanes flat in the forties.
Grundy's is another place with some history,I'll bet?
My wife and I went to the Hartsook inn in 1988.
Like Jack, we were suprised that we were the only customers. It was weird. The food wasn't memorable, but my wife loved the views around there.
Looks like we missed out on what might have been an ongoing war between the chef and a guy in a yellow apron. Also missed out on the piano player.
An outstanding history and memory, Ernie. Thank you.
I did try to eat at Hartsook once in the mid-1980s. A couple of friends were visiting from Kansas & we spent the day at Richardson Grove & swimming in the Eel. We stopped at Hartsook for a late lunch but were told by a man in a white apron that dinner wouldn't be served for another couple of hours. I remember how our footsteps echoed through the room as we walked across the floor.
I have woken up with Hartsook coffee in a nearly deserted dining room many many mornings and have a soft spot for the place, and its waitresses.
There is a lot of history in that area. I was given a story from a long time local who remembered events from the 1920's.
When the place burnt down in 1927, it was in the off season and the fastest way to rebuild for the summer trade was to hire Chinese. Perhaps unaware of the unofficial Humboldt County policy of no Asians, the Hartsooks did hire a Chinese crew. When the unions up north got wind of it, they drove down and took the Chinese to the Mendocino border at gunpoint, and white people were hired to rebuild the Hartsook. Unions were fierce.
Times were different back then.
The list of celebrities who stayed at the Hartsook might not rival the Benbow Inn's list, but was extensive. I think I saw a list there once.
I worked for a retired fellow from Miranda who had actually worked for the old man at the end of his life. He maintained that Hartsook had a terrible problem with alcohol and that his wife stayed in San Francisco while he was up here.
Back when Richard Head had the place the hotel was host to a group of healthcare executives from all over Northern California. I attended some of the workshops and was amused to see how flabbergasted everyone was that there were no telephones! No cell phone service back then either. They were outraged and rushed off periodically to the pay phone at the 76 station.
It is sad to hear all of the bad experiences in the dining room. As to myself, I’ve had nothing but very good experiences there. The Soroptimist club, that my wife belonged to, held a “Fashion Show” there every year. Foxy Threads and a few other clothing stores would supply the fashions. Tickets for admittance were sold. The place was always jam-packed. This was while under the management of Julie Willows. It was considered to be a private party and there was alcohol there. A good time was always had by all.
My first year as president of the Garberville Rotary club I was given a budget to do my year project. It was a bill for $500.00. We had donated a wheelchair to the hospital and it hadn’t been paid for yet. At our board meeting Roy Heider and Bob Smith jokingly suggested that we raffle a S-10 Chevy truck. I took them seriously and told them to do it. We paid $10,000.00 for the truck and we sold tickets in the amount of $20,000.00. We netted about $8,000.00. It was the most that the Garberville Rotary club had ever made up until that point. We spent most of it on the local schools.
We only lost one member who quit because he claimed that it was “Gambling”. I told him it was no gamble, it was a sure thing… I don’t think that he took it well.
We held the raffle party at the Hartsook Inn. Dan Healy did the sound. He was a Garberville Rotarian at that time. I had brought him into the club. Dan was a sound man for The Grateful Dead. The Hartsook was completely filled with dining tables and we Made a stage in the walkway between the dining room and the lobby. I think that Monroe Tobin won the truck. It was a pretty exciting event. Kenny Wallan was one of the entertainers. He dressed up as “Josephene” and did a comedy skit. His second act, he did in a heavy Swedish accent and he told about getting bricks off a roof. That is the first time that I found out that you can actually laugh yourself to death. I laughed so hard that I couldn’t get my breath, I had to push my face back into place because it was so distorted with laughter. I had tears actually streaming down my face. My ribs hurt for two days.
More below………….
Kenny Wallen had a charter bus company at the time and provided transportation from the Hartsook to Garberville where most of the out-of-town guests had motel rooms. There was drinking involved.
As we pulled into Garberville, it was apparent that the whole northwest corner of Garberville was on fire. The Southern Humboldt Building Supply (Where the Bootleg is now) and the Branding Iron Saloon was on fire. I fought the fire in the tuxedo that I had on until my wife brought me my fire turn-out clothes. When I took the tux back to the rental place, I offered to pay for it. The man behind the counter said: “Are you kidding? You should see how these things come back after a wedding. No extra charge”.
Ben
It's funny that you would mention the phone. There was ONE PHONE. They kept it in the office off of the lobby. If you needed to make a call real bad, they would let you, but they had to be right there because it was also the countin' house.
Great stories Ernie!
Thank you for these memories. I loved reading them.
Went to the Hart on Oct.18 71 for my birthday with a french girl from Ukiah. Was told they didn't serve hippies or indians. So we had a better time in Garberville, havin burgers.
Sorry to hear that Charlie. We have come a long ways since 1971. It is a sad commentary on 1971, but far better than 1861.
I think that I could understand if they didn't want to serve someone for a good reason. But "Indian" is not one of them. I know some awfully good hippies and some awfully good Indians.
If it makes you feel any better Some places of that era didn't allow children either.
We ran a story in the Laytonville paper once about Benbow Inn not allowing children... titled it, of course, "No Room at The Inn?" I'm glad now that I didn't visit Hartsook during that era... SOBs! Glad you had a good time anyway, Charlie... I love hamburgers!
Charlie... Sorry to hear that ugly story. I was once asked to leave the Benbow Inn back in those days but I didn't have a date with me so it was fairly painless. I didn't go back for about ten years but then, I had no problem. Now rednecks wear beards and ponytails and we've all intermarried and have to be polite 'cause we share grandchildren.
The ironic twist to my story is ; They thought the French girl was indian and thought I was the hippie.HA HA
Back then the locals just called us Long Hair!
They thought the French girl was indian and thought I was the hippie.
-LOL!
65-67 i was required to take rotc at the school i went to. the first two reasons i had to go to haight street were to go to my bank of america and to get a hair cut. it was also where i bought surfer magazine and pepsi. so i had short hair all through that time and the first people who gave me a hard time were the people who identified themselves as hippies but whose hair length wasn't much different that my own. of course, some of them were on drugs and i guess they assumed because i wasn't that i was worthy of their contempt. charlie was one of those that stopped me on the street and called me a boozwazee pig as i have already related on this blog. at the same time, i would go home and have to listen to my red neck relatives blame me for everything they read in the newspaper. so i was getting it from the far right and from the far left. so i never considered myself a hippie. i was on more of a beatnik surfbum music appreciation trip. we had a few firsts. the first skateboarders on haight steet back in 66. the first surfers to wear booties back in 66. to keep our fins on in the heavy ocean beach surf. we used to get laughed at over skateboarding by the "cool" hippies. and the surfers in those days were real proud of those huge knotts on their feet and legs from surfing without a wet suit.
then on my trip with my first wife to michigan, i stopped at a bar in missouri to buy a pack of newports and some local asked me if i wanted to have sex or fight. me thinking it was a gay bar, excused myself as quick as possible and proceeded to michigan where all the hippies still had short hair. so i partied with bob segars silver bullet band all of whom had a day job and shorter hair than mine. they were into slamming shots of tequila with salt and lime. but i remember back in 71 visiting my cousins in ukiah and they were pretty wild boys for ukiah in those days. we all looked exactly alike. and they were oc local. original californians. so thats what i am.
5goc.
All I remember about Grundy's is ol' man Grundy had a double barreled 410. Wish I had that gun today, some go for up to $60,000.00
Oregon
Gramma Ruby had a 410-22 over and under. Nice little girl gun.
Boozwazee pig ;Never!
TWINK! Fur-sure Dude!
Speaking of guns. Ernie I've Emailed you twice about a certain item.
Good for you Ross, I have trouble getting reply's with e-mails from a certain blogger myself. LOL
Oregon
Off-topic, I know, but here are 8 Post Office locations scheduled for closure within 6 months:
Blocksburg
Honeydew
Kneeland
Phillipsville
Redcrest
Samoa
Weott
Zenia
More work for you, Ernie?
--Greg
Ross
I want the conversation piece, but I don't know what to pay. I know that you are a nice guy and all, but I just want to be fair.
All you people picking on me.... My wife makes me work sometimes.
Greg
Thanks for the PO info, I took to the newspaper people. They said that they are "on it". There is no "off topic" here.
Sadly we will continue to spiral in until somebody gets the clue that we need jobs in America. No jobs, no recovery. Simple!
Thanks Oregon,I was almost too chicken sheet to post it!!! LOL!
Ernie,I'll get back with you.........!
i actually saw charlie with short hair. he sort of looked like a nerdy prince valient with zitz and really short bangs. or punk for short. he had just been let out of prison about 2 months before. i remember him being someone like an institutionalized child molester with a napoleanic complex. there are lots of people like him on the streets these days. back then he was what we called a "ripoff" artist. someone who knows how to rip energy.
Oregon... Thanks for mentioning Grundy's. I have been trying for years to remember the name of that place and failing... old age, I guess. I drive by there once or twice a month and now my mind will be free from the obsessive question: "What was the name of that place?" I remember all the trucks... must have had pretty waitresses...
Anyone remember an old Resort,maybe around Legget, That was called the Hermitage???
Ben,Ernie??
Thanks!
i found a ghost town named hermitage about 6 miles east southeast of yorkville in mendocino county. In the extreme southern portion of the Township is a settlement called
Hermitage, so named by S.W. Knowles, who settled there in 1858, bringing a
drove of cattle from Sonoma. He raised the first hops in Mendocino County,
drying them in the loft of his barn and selling the dried hops in Petaluma for
thirty cents a pound. Hermitage is not even a hamlet, but a continuation of farms along the narrow valley on the headwaters of Dry Creek.
there was a post office there for a long time. that's all i could find
There is a Buddhist retreat center in Leggett... could it's previous name have been the Hermitage? Just guessing, never read anything.
Okay, Okay... I'm back.
The "Hermitage" that Ross referred to was located on the South Fork of the Eel River, at the confluence of Rattlesnake Creek and the South Fork of the Eel, about 2 miles downstream of Cummings California, and about three miles upstream of Big Bend Lodge. It was a popular fishing and hunting resort. They had cabins to rent. There is a nice flat alongside the river that it was all located on. The last time that I drove through there was about ten years ago. There was still a building of some kind left there.
There was/is a Catholic summer camp located about two miles up the south fork, toward Branscomb.
The name of the camp is Camp St. Michael's. I used to do the refrigeration there, and the road took me right through "The Hermitage". This history stuff is fun!
You like history Ernie, give the lowdown on Moody I think we called it. On Andrasonia (sp) West of Dimmicks mill in Piercy.
Oregon
My Dad bought the Hermitage at some point in time?? Probably in the late forties??
He bought it to log off the timber,not the Resort value!
Oregon,"Moody"rings a bell also?
Wasn't he a CPA in Garberville???
Ross, I was talking about the town of Moody. I think it was a stage stop back before highway 101 was in.
Oregon
I'd like to know more about the stages/times the 101 was put thru the area. like from SF to Eureka!!!
Can someone tell me about the town of Jet Dry in upper bear river. Did this town have a post office? My postal book does not list it. I also have questions about the stage lines. Did the stage follow the coast to mattole then come inland? Or did it follow the EEl river. Jack told me the stage from eureka went to center ville after stopping in fern dale. Jack said the stage went down the beach and came to a stage stop at there mazeppa ranch then on the wild cat route to mattole then inland. Does any one have info. On this stage line.
I traveled the Redwood Highway from Santa Barbara to Myrtle Creek, OR for 13 years straight, starting in the late 70's, and more than once, my husband and I stayed at the Hartsook. I liked the restaurant; very quiet! I remember the wood floors. My best memory, though, is of waking up very early every morning in our cabin and looking out the window at the deer. They were so close you could touch 'em. It was so exciting for us and the kids. Just loved that place...:)))
I lived in the hartsook inn in the early 90's my dad was the maintenance guy. It is a beautiful place with lots of outdoor activities. I am planning on a return visit with my family. I remember when richard head owned it he was my dads boss. Thank u for the hostory ernie.
Just a few corrections to your story regarding Hartsook Inn. The Lingenfelters that owned the Inn were Darel (not Darrell) and Florence. Dorothy was one of their two daughters -- Bonnie was the other. My mother, Jeanne (Lingenfelter) Mattocks was a first cousin of Darel's and I am named after Darel -- my name is Darel Gene Mattocks. I worked at Hartsook Inn in the summers of 1958 thru 1963 as I went thru college.
It was a great job!! I was a combination Bellhop, Desk Clerk and Cashier.
Met a few celebrities, including Walt Disney and his brother Roy and their wives and actor Robert Young and his wife.
Also met alot of young ladies from the Eureka area that came down to work as maids during the summer. Enjoyed many nights of square dancing at French's next door. Mrs French was a sister of Florence Lingenfelter.
Bonnie Lingenfelter's husband Bill Starz was the Chef at the Inn for awhile.
Many wonderful memories!!
Stayed there for a few days during our honeymoon in July 1982. My husband bought me a sterling silver rings with a pink abalone stone in it from their gift shop. We swam in the eel river. Wonderful place .
Bonnie
Ottawa, Canada
I was there on June 12, 1973 with my grandparents on my 12th birthday. The chef had baked me a cake and we ate dinner then went to the river to watch the dear come and drink. We couldn't figure out why they were not coming. We walked up the river bank to the road and the place was ablaze! It was so scary being around all those trees on fire. They moved us to a cabin farther away from the main building so we could finally sleep but it was still burning when I went down.
I wish the Inn was still open and active. I would love to stay there again!
Hi, my name is Kris McGowan and Darel and Florence Lingenfelter were my grandparents on my mother Bonnie'side. I was born in Garberville in1950. One of my first memories was after the 1955 flood of the Eel River. We were living in the cabin closest to the river at Hartsook Inn and as the river rose, it lifted our home off its foundation and the only thing that saved the building is that it caught on a redwood tree. We were in SO Cal fortunately, but hurried home to find a huge mess. Since I was 5 at the time, I thought digging for buried treasure was awesome! I remember so many happy times with my grandparents. They were born and raised as Christian Scientists and that is why there was no alcohol at the Inn. Hiking the Richardson's Grove trail was one of my favorite things to do as well as spend time down by the river. It was such a wonderful and innocent time to be alive!!!
Have recently discovered that it was my Great Aunt Flossie, and her daughter, Francis' husband who was Fred Hartsook. Flossie's maiden name was Newcomb. She was from a family of early photographers from the Midwest and Salt Lake City. I knew her sisters, one of whom was my grandmother. We never knew what happened to Fred Hartsook, as my aunties never talked about it, but it appears he met Bessie Hesby when she was a young "Miss Liberty" at the 1915 Pan American Worlds Fair, and must have divorced Aunt Flossie and Francis (I inherited several Hartsook and Newcomb family portraits of them all). My sister and I always felt there was some mystery about Flossie, but we've only recently discovered this through Ancestry.com. Hartsook had portrait studios on the west coast and built the Inn with that money, I guess. Flossie died in South Prairie, Washington (now gone) and the mystery is solved. I found a photo of Bessie...a gorgeous girl, and I have one of Flossie too. Fred must have been 40 when he married her. Ever was it so......must go sometime to see where the old inn was!
July 14, 2016
This is for Anonymous, who wrote the last entry. I fell in love with Hartsook Inn, I think it was around 1996 or 7 when an old boyfriend and I fell upon it looking for a place to stay Thanksgiving night. It was told Clark Gable and Carole Lombard stayed in the cabin we chose. It was a wonderful place. I never went back, sadly. I have been working on my genealogy going through some old photographs. After many many years of seeing, and holding, the same photo of my beautiful grandfather and grandmother, and cover protecting it, I noticed it says Hartsook California on the front. When I Googled it and found that it was the same Hartsook that owned Hartsook Inn I admit my heart did a little jump. I just Googled the Inn and found a picture which appears to be dated May 2012, looking abandoned and in need of grounds maintenance. I can't find anything more about what it has become, if anything. Now, I don't know if my grandparents ever visited the Inn, I just wish some millionaire would bring life back into the place; someone who doesn't need it to make a lot of money; bring back the ghosts of the past.
I'll second Marta's comments about someone restoring the Inn. My extended family used to vacation there in the late 80's and I have very fond memories of the place. Does anyone know how much the Dorrance's purchased it for? Does anyone know the current state of the place or what its being used for? Would love to see it back to its original use as I'm sure so many of us would. Thanks for all the stories. Glad to see I'm not the only one who loved it so much!
I absolutely love this, I guess this would be the first 'blog' I've read, ever. I came upon this accidentally after I clicked on a picture of the Hartsook Inn. I too have so many fantastic memories, not just of So Hum, but particularly this place, and this area, as I was becoming an adult. We arrived around 1980, I was about 9, my aunt and uncle lived here then so I guess that is what brought us here,Uncle Rick worked at the con camp out of Redway, I started 4th grade at Redway school, had Mr. Leonard, moved to Weott school mid-year, had Mr. Holbrook, and I finished that year...back at Redway in Mr. Leonard's class. I always thought that was funny. Went to Miranda for Jr High, got thrown out of South Fork, went to So Hum High with Mac for a while, and then left when that school moved into Garberville and became Osprey Learning Center, don't know what it is called now. (I finally got my hs diploma in 2010 in Hayfork,lol)
Mom worked at the Grotto in Redway first, later at the Waterwheel Rest. in Garb, Dean and Lydia Carrera owned it then. Later, mid 80's, Mom and Lyd went to work out there at Hartsook with their friend Sam,they all waited tables. Bob and Lorraine Price owned it then. That is my first memory there.Then Mom broke her ankle and had to move in with dad in Rogue River to recoup, and I moved to Benbow to stay with Lyd. I babysat while she worked, I didn't want to go to Oregon. From then until I moved away Hartsook was always a part of my life. At 18 I lived in the 'dorms' which was 2 cabins which had about 4 or 5 rooms each and a shared shower room, they were on the south side of the inn towards French's Camp. I did not work there, but these people had become a big part of my life, so I got a dorm room. I worked at the Woodsman down the way, Ron and Karen Shockey owned that. I was there off and on until about 1993, 94? or so before I moved away. Back then Jeffrey Lake was the caretaker at French's Camp AND the night clerk at The Benbow Inn. Wow how things have changed. Now the one log cabin that was in P-ville when I was a kid sits out there across the street from where the Woodsman used to be, it's surreal.
To the annonymous who lived there in the early 90's, whose dad was the maintenance guy, I probably knew you then, lol. Thank you for letting me take a walk back thru time. I STILL LOVE ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE, and my memories of them even though I haven't seen most of them in more than 20 years.
I remember staying at the Hartsook Inn in 1982. I was working for the research branch of the U.S. Forest Service and we were conducting a timber survey of Mendocino County, California. We stayed in several of the cabins behind the inn. Sleeping in the cabin under the beautiful old redwoods was wonderful. These are fond memories of a young man in his early twenties. It is sad to hear that some of those beautiful trees were cut. I have lost contact with most of my fellow crew, but the memories remain and the life they have in my head is probably much richer than when I lived them in real time! Thank goodness that the County's grove across 101 is still intact.
As a kid we stayed here a lot in the 80's i still remember as soon as you walk in, there was board games i couldn't wait to play...since there was no tv's lol
My husband Kurt & I spent part of our honeymoon at Hartsook in July 1978. We stayed in one of the little cabins. It was such a beautifuL setting, with the old redwoods surrounding it. The restaurant had fantastic food. I remember we paid $18 a night for the cabin. It was a little piece of heaven.
I travelled alone by bus to visit family in Oregon in 1976 and again in 1979 or so. I loved when the bus rounded the corner in this beautiful wooded area, seeing the big heart and the cute little inn! For this small town girl from Oklahoma, it was quite an awe-inspiring site! I vowed someday I would stay there. Our bus did stop there once for dinner and i remember I shared a shrimp dish with another girl whom I had befriended along the way. Neither of us wanted to spend what they were asking, so we split it. They were actually prawns, and I'd never heard of those before! In 1990 or so, my hubby and son and I took a road trip and did end up staying there, just as I'd always wanted. It was magical. I had planned to go back again, and when I did drive through that area with my son in later years, was very sad to see it had burned and many of the trees were also gone. I do have such great memories, though and can almost smell the wonderful redwood aroma!!!
Ernie. I worked as maintenance at Hartsook from 92 to 94. I was there when Scott Tree bought the place, from James Langbecker out of Woodland. I remember Paul the piano player, Frank who was head chef there, his wife Cindy. My wife Cathy worked the Restaurant as waitress. James Langbecker and I went to the "Air Porter" hotel, and purchased (He did not me) 63 rooms worth of beds, head boards, Sinks with faucets and counter top, carpet and padding, kind of a pick color carpet. The cabins interior semi-white washed just popped when the new beds/bed spreads, also a pink like color, and carpet were installed. I was leveling the cabins, and upgrading them after. We had all those rooms worth of stuff, up in the big barn, near the back behind the Inn proper. I think I leveled up, upgraded about 15 cabins, before I got hurt on the job. I would love to ask here, if anyone knows what happened to Frank and Cindy, for the life of me I can't remember their last name. James had kept me working year round there, on the cabins, and electrical. The well there was tepid. Stunk really bad. My wife would filter the water and add lemon to it to cover the smell. A huge fir tree fell on one of the cabins, smashing it, I was hired to take it apart, and ended up getting hired on full time because of it. James sold the lumber of the fir tree. Which he took that money to buy those rooms. I'm bouncing all over the place here. I just loved working there, it was so beautiful, the wife and I made bank working there. James had me move from Miranda trailer park where we rented a trailer, out to live in the cabin right across from the inn proper, It was the long one with 5 or 6 rooms on it. We got the two on the west side. It was the one with the kitchenette. I paid no rent or utilities to live there, just so I could be on hand. I repaired the generator onsite, had a leak from the head on that giant diesel engine. That old 440 volt generator would still run most of the cabins and the inn proper, used it a few times. LOL.
When Scott took it over, he fired my part time helper. Started running the place into the ground. Couldn't manage well at all, always in the till for party money. He had a powder issue. When I got hurt, he tried to have the sheriff kick me out, during the first week. I ended up leaving and moving to Weott. While I worked on the work mans comp. I do not have fond memories of Scott. I don't know why James sold the place, but I sure miss him as well. He was a good man, and loved the Inn. Was willing to make it a great place. He loved the Harley Run, as they would always fill up the place. The groupies from "reggae on the river" In Garberville, would invade the flat out by the river, setup tents. We had to keep them out of the Inn's property a lot. They would even try to break into cabins and try to squat. LOL People out walking around nude, swimming nude, had to keep my little kids away from the river.
Did you know, Hartsook Inn was listed in Ripleys? It was listed for "the reincarnation tree". Check it out.
Thanks for the blog, LOVED it.
Anyone knows, or has information about Frank and Cindy, please email me at ljburks@yahoo.com.
Thank you
Larry Burks
Hey Donna @Donna Hall/Egan Do you remember me? Larry and Cathy? :-)
Wow, I remember a friend of mine worked at hartsook in maybe 98 or 99 washing dishes. He had/has family in garbeville. We lived in one of the cabins and raked pine needles for rent, waiting to travel to Alaska to work in the fishing industry up there. We were only 17&18 and I think about it from time to time. Seen someone on tictok say garberville and looked it up. Good memories!
My parents honeymooned in 1950 at the Hartsook Inn. I always loved driving by the sign on 101.
Stayed there on our honeymoon in 1992. One meal we were the only couple in the dining room. They treated us so special.
Is any of it still standing? Can you visit?
Seem the place has been bought again. The man Larry James Hanshew, is remodeling it now. He's on facebook if you're interested, just go there and search his name.
Really excited to see someone who will make it an Inn again.
Cheers!!
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