It was built in 1866 by Anson Parsons Hotaling to originally be a hotel. However, Hotaling later moved to the whiskey business. It was also one of the few surviving buildings after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, thanks to a mile long fire hose that stretched through Fisherman's Wharf and Telegraph Hill. Because of the saving of the building, Charles K. Field once stated famously, "If, as they say, God spanked the town for being over-frisky, why did He burn His churches down and spare Hotaling's whiskey?"