Indenture for lease of land for What Cheer House signed by Joseph L. Folsom and Robert B. Woodward, 1854 May 14.

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Indenture for lease of land for What Cheer House signed by Joseph L. Folsom and Robert B. Woodward, 1854 May 14.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58928326

Two-page, preprinted indenture document dated 14 May 1854. Joseph L. Folsom is leasing to Robert B. Woodward land situated "on the Westerly side of Leidesdorff street at a point distant eighty feet Southerly from the So Westerly corner of Sacramento & Leidesdorff street ... " This was the site of the famous What Cheer House, a hotel operated by Woodward. The document stipulates the details of the lease; it is signed and sealed by both Folsom and Woodward and witnessed by P.W Tanwinkle(?). Robert Woodward arrived in San Francisco in 1949 from Rhode Island with a stock of building materials and $1000 worth of groceries and provisions. With these he established a coffeehouse which grew and expanded several times until it was destroyed by fire. Woodward took advantage of the land made available after this fire and built the What Cheer House which was located at 527-531 Sacramento Street. The grand opening was on July 4, 1952. See photograph: The What Cheer House was unique in several ways. It catered to men only and was priced to appeal to miners and farmers who came to the city to conduct business. No liquor was permitted on the premises which housed both a library and a museum for the entertainment of its quests. The What Cheer House prospered and became a San Francisco landmark until it was destroyed by the fire that was the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake. Today the site is marked as California Registered Historical Landmark No. 650.

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California state library

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SNAC Resource ID: 7773060

California state library

Related Entities

There are 3 Entities related to this resource.

Folsom, Joseph Libbey, 1817-1855.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hv28qk (person)

Joseph Libbey Folsom was born May 19, 1817, in New Hampshire. He was a graduate of West Point and went to California in 1846 as Captain and Assistant Quartermaster of Stevenson's Regiment of New York Volunteers. After the Mexican War, he settled in San Francisco and was the Collector of the Port of San Francisco. He invested in real estate in San Francisco and beyond, notably purchasing rights to William A. Leidesdorff's large estate, the Rancho Rio de los Americanos in Sacramento County. Folsom...

Woodward, R. B. (Robert Burns), 1917-1979

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cv50n8 (person)

Robert Burns Woodward (1917-1979) joined the Chemistry Department at Harvard University in 1938. He was appointed Morris Loeb Professor of Chemistry in 1958 and held the Donner Professorship of Science from 1960 until his death. Woodward was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work in organic chemistry. From the description of Papers of Robert Burns Woodward, 1873-1980 (inclusive), 1930-1979 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 76973225 Robert B...

What Cheer House (San Francisco, Calif.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wt7c5m (corporateBody)