Wells Fargo's Ties to the Orleans Hotel
Construction has been non-stop for the past few months in Old Sacramento 
. Half a block down from the Wells Fargo Museum, building has begun on a replica of the Orleans Hotel . The Orleans was originally built in 1850, only to be burnt down in the great fire of 1852. After the fire the hotel was rebuilt in only twenty-one days and six hours, and cost $176,000. The second building stood from 1852 until the mid-20th century, changing ownership and purposes several times. The building was torn down over 10 years ago and the site stood empty. But now, construction on a replica of the Orleans hotel has begun.
How does this historic hotel have ties to Wells Fargo?
Three of Wells Fargo's express agents in Sacramento were involved with the Orleans hotel. Captain William Simmons, Sacramento agent from 1858-60, built it in 1849. His title of "Captain" came from his shipping line that transported freight from New Orleans to California. Simmons bought and shipped a prefabricated building to Sacramento, which became the New Orleans hotel. He was the owner and operator of the hotel until 1852, when he sold it prior to the great fire , which destroyed the original structure.
Samuel Knight was the Sacramento express agent from 1857-58. Three years prior to his appointment as Sacramento's agent, he was in charge of the Orleans hotel. The Orleans at the time was a popular stage stop and neighbor to Wells Fargo's new express location in the B.F. Hastings building two buildings down.
The third agent to work for the Orleans hotel was Alexander Hayden. Hayden was the Sacramento express agent from 1863-66. Ten years earlier, he worked as a clerk at the Orleans hotel under Samuel Knight. His work at the hotel lasted only two years before he left to learn the express business.
The connection between these three Wells Fargo men and their prior occupations working for the Orleans hotel is uncanny. But the neighborhood relationship lives on: The latest version of the hotel will be open in the summer of 2008, and Wells Fargo will be right down the street just like we were 1852.
