Occidental Union Hotel

Occidental Union Hotel. . Settlement of the area that would become Occidental began in the 1840s. On October 10, 1876, the narrow gauge North Pacific Coast Railroad was completed, and the first passenger train arrived at Howard’s Station, so named for William “Dutch Bill” Howard, the oldest settler then living in that area, and on whose land a portion of the town was built., At an elevation of 560 feet, the town was the highest point on the railroad and was known, for a time, as Summit. Due to competition from automobiles and trucking, the rail service ended in 1930., In 1879, Dutch Bill Howard sold one of his lots to Amelia Jones, where her family built what was later to become the Union Hotel. Jones sold the site back to Howard the following year. In 1891, Howard sold the property to Giovanni Gobetti who operated it as the Union Saloon until 1925 when he sold it to Carlo Panizzera, who converted it to the Union Hotel. Carlo and his wife Mary had one child, Lucille, who married Dan Gonnella. Today, the Union Hotel is owned by the Gonnella family and operated by Frank, his wife Barbara, and their daughter Gienna Michel Gonnella., The Union Hotel has survived pandemics, earthquakes, and fires…“like our ancestors, we will rely on hard work and God to get us through the day, and perhaps a glass of wine at night!”