Freeman Hotel, Auburn
Built 1866
Freeman Hotel, Auburn
Built 1866
William Alexander Freeman was born in Meadville, Pa. October 9, 1837. His family moved to Ohio when he was 4 years old and his father died when he was 7. He worked on farms there until he was twenty. He came to California via the Isthmus and arrived in San Francisco Feb 12, 1859. During 1860, he teamed from Sacramento to Forest Hill. He later engaged in mining at Bath, Placer County and was one of the owners of the Paragon Mine. After selling his interest for $25,000, he went to Oakland where he engaged in the real estate business. He returned to Forest Hill in 1873 and opened the Young American Mine (later known as the Mayflower Mine), which he sold in 1875. In July, 1882, Freeman bought the Borland Hotel in Auburn. As the Freeman Hotel it became one of the most popular hostelries in California. He sold the hotel in March 1899, but after 21 months repurchased it in partnership with J. E. Walsh. He sold his interest in the hotel to J. E. And J. T. Walsh in 1908 and devoted himself to his mining and real estate interests. After the death of his first wife, Elizabeth Rea, a Placer County native who died at Bath, he married Elizabeth Laycock in 1870. They had three children: Dr. Charles Freeman, Rosanna Nicholls and Edgar Freeman.
Freeman served many years as an Auburn City Trustee and one term as a Placer County supervisor. He died February 26, 1909 at the Freeman Hotel of pneumonia complicated by a weak heart.