Columbia

Fallon Hotel and Theatre

The Fallon Hotel and Theatre is undoubtedly one of Columbia’s most impressive buildings remaining from the Gold Rush. Owen Fallon, a stone cutter from Ireland, arrived in Columbia with his family in 1856. Choosing the life of an innkeeper over that of the miner, Fallon purchased a miners’ boarding place known as the Main House in April of 1857. Constructed sometime after the fire of 1854, which destroyed the previous wooden stores on the site, the Main House survived until it was claimed by the fire of 1857. Fallon rebuilt, his second building lasting until 1859, when it too went up in flames. Learning his lesson, Fallon built his third structure of brick. It was completed in 1860 and opened as the Fallon House. His two neighbors to the east also built of brick after the fire in 1859, and in 1863 he purchased the building next door from a Mr. Cardinell and joined the two buildings by opening a hallway. Fallon later acquired the Gunn Saloon which was the next building to the east. These three buildings became Fallon’s Hotel.