Key Route Inn - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Key Route Inn - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Key Route Inn was a major hotel in Oakland, California in the early decades of the 20th century. It was constructed by the Realty Syndicate of Francis "Borax" Smith and Frank C. Havens, a subsidiary of which was the Key Route transit system. The Inn opened on May 7, 1907, straddling what is now Grand Avenue along the west side of Broadway. President William Howard Taft and his party were guests in 1909. The building was a massive wood-framed structure with open timbering, in imitation of an old English style. One of its most remarkable features was a large archway and corridor through which the tracks of one of the Key Route's transbay lines passed. A Key Route stop in this corridor connected to the hotel's main lobby. Read more on Wikipedia
Source: en.wikipedia.org