Jonesville Hotel in Butte County was built in 1865. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Jonesville—it’s a town with a hotel, but no full-time residents.

Today, the hotel is more like a private museum, as no one may stay there and visits are only allowed if you have the right connection.

My connection was taking an OLLI class through Chico State University in September. Bill Casey, one of the property owners, was our docent for the day.

This hotel is less than 40 miles from Chico, just above Butte Meadows. Surrounded by towering pine trees, with a tranquil meadow in the back of the hotel, it’s understandable why this area was settled way back when and continues to be a summer respite for the heat of the valley.

The hotel was built in 1865. It was one of 14 waystations—half had hotels—that John Bidwell had built along a toll road from Chico to the silver mines in Nevada and Idaho. This is the only hotel still standing.

The Chico News & Review in 2011 described it as one of Bidwell’s “greatest failures as a businessman.” The newspaper explained: “…  the Central Pacific Railroad’s expansion to the mining region spelled doom for the toll road, and by April 1867 the Humboldt Road had become a strictly local highway between Chico and Susanville.”

Jonesville gets its name from George F. Jones, who owned a mercantile store in downtown Chico, according to the newspaper. He built a cabin behind the hotel.

“It wasn’t until 1884 that anyone actually owned the land the hotel was on. That’s when a 54-year-old man named Jacob Franklin Sims obtained a homestead certification for 160 acres, paying a fee of $16 in January when he filed and another $6 on June 9 when he took possession of the certificate,” the Chico News & Review wrote. “Mystery surrounds the early history of the hotel. It began as a one-story building, but when it became two stories is unclear. One clue was the discovery in recent years, when the old shake roof was removed and replaced with a metal roof, of a San Francisco newspaper dated 1887 under the shakes. That would seem to indicate the main building had two stories at that time.”

Looking out a hotel window to remains of the two-room schoolhouse in Jonesville. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

In 1993, the 47 cabin owners in Jonesville under the umbrella Jonesville Cabin Owners Inc., paid $700,000 for the 115 acres their land is on, including the hotel. It is now their responsibility to take care of the hotel.

Adding a metal roof (it snows here) was one of the first projects. A foundation was laid in 2010 that necessitated jacking up the building about 8 feet. Originally it was built on rocks and timbers, with dirt coming through the floor by the time restoration began.

Window frames needed to be replaced; they were restored with original style hardware and not modern metal screws. The same windows went back in, with the warped-style glass easy to spot.

Looking out one it’s easy to see what looks like could have been an old hog pen. In reality it was once a two-room schoolhouse. This is one of many out buildings that used to be on the property.

The original hotel had four bedrooms upstairs and three downstairs.

Today, the hotel is mostly used by the ownership group to have weddings or parties outside. Tours like our class happen on occasion. Sometimes fundraisers take place there to keep income coming in to maintain the old building.

A modern stove and refrigerator have been added for convenience for events. The hotel didn’t have electricity until the 1960s, according to Casey.

The old Jonesville Hotel today is decorated to look like it is still in the 1800s. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Much of the décor reflects the time period when it was built—thus giving it the museum feel. No furniture, though, is original.

What was an original exterior wall is now an interior wall, so it’s easy to see the addition.

In one upstairs room is the original wood on the walls and floors. You wouldn’t want to walk barefoot there. The rest of the floors have been replaced with synthetic materials to replicate the planks.

A stove pipe from the woodstove on the first floor provided heat. At an elevation of 5,000 feet, even this time of year the evenings are cool.

Water for all of Jonesville is through an intricate layout of pipes coming from natural springs and private wells. The rippling of nearby Jones Creek is easily heard from the front porch.

A future project will be restoring the barn across the road that way back when was used for the horses pulling the wagons.