Susanville native, Charles “Charlie” Emerson was born on August 5, 1868. He was one of the rags to riches story. A year after his birth, his father deserted his family. Slowly, but surely the budding entrepreneur ventured in the business world, and was doing quite well.
In 1900, Emerson announced he was going to build the town’s premiere commercial establishment—a three story brick hotel. Completed in 1901, it became the town’s social hub. In 1913, the hotel’s neighbor to the west, the Blue Goose Saloon caught fire. It should be noted the Blue Goose had the town’s first neon sign, which shorted out and caused the fire. The hotel received minimal damage. Emerson purchased the burned out lot, and built an annex to his hotel. There is an issue about the annex, but that will have to wait for another day.
Back to Emerson’s birthday. Shortly after midnight on August 5, 1915, a fire was discovered in Emerson’s warehouse on Cottage Street, adjacent to the Methodist Church. The fire spread rapidly due to west winds, sending embers across the alley and igniting the Emerson Hotel, located on the corner of Main and South Lassen Streets. Two adjacent buildings facing on Lassen Street–the Hyer Hotel and the Methodist Church–also caught on fire. When it was realized that it was futile to try and save the buildings, all efforts were focused on keeping it contained. The losses were staggering, estimated at over $250,000. Emerson never fully recovered.
Years later, Emerson’s daughter Mae Ables, recalled the tragic event: “I was home for summer vacation from college when the hotel burned on my father’s birthday and stood with his arm around me in the middle of the street and watched it go with all our worldly possessions and Dad’s business records of years destroyed.”