Sacramento County
Biographies
CHARLES ZIMMERMAN
CHARLES ZIMMERMAN,
proprietor of the New Western Hotel, etc., Folsom, was born in Germany, August
14, 1842. From 1859 to 1866 he worked at the shoemaker’s trade, and then sailed
from Havre and landed in New York April 16. Remained in that city until 1869
when he went to Greenport, Long Island, where he was employed in a shoe store a
year and four months. Returning to Brooklyn, New York, he started a shoe shop
on the corner of Fulton and Adelphia streets, and ran it until 1872. In August
of this year he came to San Francisco, where he engaged in his trade five
weeks; then he and another gentleman came to Folsom, rented a place of Dr.
Bates for three years, opened out in business, and at the expiration of the
term of the lease Mr. Zimmerman bought the property, which is on the corner of
Sutter and Wool streets; it has ninety-five feet frontage. At the time of the
purchase this property had two buildings upon it, and he paid for it $2,100. He
started a hotel in one building and carried on his shop in the other. He
borrowed the money with which to pay for the place, and paid all his
indebtedness at the end of four years, from the proceeds of his carefully
managed business. He improved the property to the extent of $800; but August 13,
1886, the great fire burned him out, along with a large portion of the business
section of the city. He was insured for $2,800, with which he immediately
rebuilt, at a cost of $7,000, and now the city of Folsom is graced with the New
Western Hotel, one of the leading hotels in the county and one that would be a
credit to any city. The dimensions of the main building are 40 x 60 feet, and
two and three-fourths stories high. On one side of the main building is the
saloon, on the corner, and on the other side are two stores, occupied as a
butcher shop and a shoe shop, each one story high. Commencing here without
anything, Mr. Zimmerman has proved himself to be a successful business man. He
was the first to open a first-class $1 a day house in Folsom, while in the
saloon business he was the first to put the price of beer down to five cents a
glass. In this he has made many friends, who appreciate what he has done for
the good of the place. He was married October 21, 1882, to Mrs. Katerina Myer,
a native of Germany, and at that time a widow with three children: August,
Louisa and Emma; and by the present marriage there is one daughter, Barda by
name.
Transcribed by Vicky
Walker, 11/29/07.
Source: Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated
History of Sacramento County, California. Pages 804-805.
Lewis Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Vicky Walker.