New Hotel Carquinez
historic place
The New Hotel Carquinez, a historic place in Richmond, Contra Costa County, opened on July 17, 1926. Berkeley architect James Plachek designed this five-story reinforced concrete structure, featuring brick veneer and an ornamental cast cement plaster cornice. From its opening until the 1970s, the New Hotel Carquinez functioned as Richmond's main conference center. It hosted important meetings for the Chamber of Commerce, the Santa Fe Railroad, and the Standard Oil Company. The hotel's name was selected through a contest for Richmond high school students. A significant event, the signing of the Parr Lease, took place here on October 18, 1926, initiating a new industrial period for the city. Planning for the Richmond Ford Plant also occurred within these walls. Later known as Hotel Don, the building was rehabilitated into senior housing in 1991 and renamed The Carquinez. It joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The New Hotel Carquinez marks a central point in Richmond's civic and industrial history.