Downing Street
Compare the timbered fronts and stonework as you follow the public street. [1]
Find it: Downing Street, Hollister.
Plan your visit: Use public sidewalks; individual businesses set their own hours.
The town’s history
A town built to welcome travelers
The railroad helped turn an agricultural settlement into a visitor destination. Developer William H. Johnson imagined an English-style resort town, with buildings facing the depot. Downing Street still makes that idea easy to see: the architecture is part of the attraction. [1]
Some fronts began as backs
The inn’s published history describes older buildings being extended and given half-timbered rear façades to face the new visitor street. [1]
Two useful dates
The depot opened in 1910; Ye Olde English Inn followed in 1912. Together they tell the story of arriving and staying. [1]
A California name, an English look
Hollister’s name traveled from California. When storekeeper Reuben Kirkman sought a local post office, he proposed the name of the California town where his daughter had been born. The name was established in 1904. The English-style buildings that later gave Downing Street its character tell another chapter of the town’s beginnings. [4]