Stagecoaches bound for the mines once stopped at the Orleans Hotel, the California Historical Landmark whose replica now rises in front of you. The original hotel was built by Maria Hastings with materials from New Orleans shipped around Cape Horn. It opened with 40 rooms and a saloon downstairs, a frequent stop for stagecoaches on their way to the mines during the California Gold Rush.
Mark Twain even resided here in 1866 during his employment at the Sacramento Union. The original building burned down in 1852 along with many other Sacramento buildings in a large fire and was rebuilt by the next year in brick, only to meet the same fate in another fire in 1923. Several attempts to build on the site since 1975 failed until a business owner financed a new mixed-use building in 2007; construction finished in 2008.
Today the new Orleans Hotel replica is a four-story building with an exterior that matches the Gold Rush-era original and 24 rental lofts on the upper floors, built with plans for a restaurant and other uses. Notice this replica's Gold Rush-era exterior and the four-story form standing on the original site.