The Pacific Hotel was located at 158 Higuera. 

The four-story brick building was built in 1931 as the Pacific Japanese Hotel Building by owner Robert F. Fukunaga and Frank Tsutsumi.^{1, 2} The area of what is now Lower Higuera was San Luis Obispo's Japantown.

The building formally opened with a celebration in November 1931, with more than 600 guests, a barbeque, and what the newspaper described as "Japanese vaudeville entertainment" that brought well-known Japanese actors from Los Angeles, held at the Japanese Church. O. Hamai was the proprietor of the hotel.³ In 1938, a license for operation of the hotel was granted to Mrs. Y. Urabe.⁴ By 1942, Roy Kurozumi is listed as the manager of the hotel.⁵ 

It appears that by summer of 1942, non-Japanese American people were operating the business, as most Japanese Americans in San Luis Obispo were forcibly relocated to concentration camps by the U.S. government during World War II. In August 1942, the newspaper reports that J. Barksdale Brown was operating the hotel. Next, Lela Bell Alston (1907-1980) held the business license, and she transferred the license to Lela F. San in 1949.⁶ The Pacific Hotel is one of the only hotels in San Luis Obispo to accommodate Black guests, as early as 1941, including Alice Martin when she first arrived in San Luis Obispo. The area of town that was formerly the site of Japantown in the 1940s becomes an area where Black families and businesses settle. 

The hotel later is known as the Clover Hotel and then the Stewart Hotel in 1951 (operated by Rev. and Mrs. John D. Stewart). In 1952 the building is known as the Plantation Club. 

By the 1950s Cecil G. Evans owns the building, and the building becomes a off-campus housing for Cal Poly students. In 1954 the building opens as the Mustang House, offering housing for 50 students.¹⁰ Advertisements list 18 rooms, 5 showers, and manager's apartment.⁹ By 1960 the building is known as the Poly Engineers House, and by 1966 appears to be known as the Ark, low-cost housing for Cal Poly students for the next 25 years, primarily appears to be architecture students.⁷

The Pacific Hotel was demolished in 1987, to make way for the widening of Higuera Street.⁸ The "Arc Center" or "Arc Plaza" opens in 1989, including Circle K and Subway.

See Also:

• David Middlecamp, "How Outcast Cal Poly architecture students turned an old hotel into a quirky co-op home," Photos from the Vault, 2018.

References

1. "The New Pacific Japanese Hotel," San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram (San Luis Obispo, California), November 14, 1931: 8. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A1463449C4B547668%40EANX-NB-14D5F22B0DAF56C1%402426660-14D3B8B9CF0D3DCB%407-14D3B8B9CF0D3DCB%40.

2. "Fete Opens New Building," San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram (San Luis Obispo, California), November 10, 1931: 5. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A1463449C4B547668%40EANX-NB-14D5F227C5BEAA03%402426656-14D5B0FF4967B0DF%404-14D5B0FF4967B0DF%40.

3. Ibid.

4. February 12, 1935  Daily Telegram.

5. The article is about Japanese Americans who were taken by the FBI, including Kurozumi. San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California), February 20, 1942: 1. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A1463448D97D52251%40EANX-NB-15071562A0F8DE00%402430411-150629BE2C28AAC7%400-150629BE2C28AAC7%40.

6. San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California), July 20, 1949: 1. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A1463448D97D52251%40EANX-NB-1515F8CBCDB98EB4%402433118-1514A9DEC941D48C%400-1514A9DEC941D48C%40.

7. “The Ark sails on” San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California), April 8, 1987: 1. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A1463448D97D52251%40EANX-NB-16AEF881DD295987%402446894-16AE7D16FB43F05E%400-16AE7D16FB43F05E%40.

8. Ibid.

9.  Lease Advertisement, San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California), August 23, 1965: 13. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A1463448D97D52251%40EANX-NB-16A4D269CC360603%402438996-16A4D042EC737B27%4012-16A4D042EC737B27%40.

10. "Mustang House Opens New Cooperative Dorm," San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California), September 23, 1954: 3. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A1463448D97D52251%40EANX-NB-151D83C9251B92D4%402435009-151D39078BA77730%402-151D39078BA77730%40.