Palace Hotel Napa Cal. Albumen stereoview on orange cardstock mount. Napa City, California: J.G. Brayton, circa 1876. Period ink inscribed title. Photographer's imprint to verso. 

A fine view of he luxurious Palace Hotel in Napa City, California, with revelers and figures visible in windows and balconies. The figures appear joyous and jubilant, perhaps suggesting the view was taken during the grand opening or another celebration. J.G. Brayton was a local Napa photographer who operated a studio from the late 1860s through the 1880s. 

While today, Napa is known for its viticulture and welcomes oenophiles from around the world, its original tourist attraction was the local sulphur and soda springs. The Palace Hotel was built in 1876 catering to these early resort-goers. Wine tourism was initiated in 1889 when Gustave Niebaum won the prestigious Paris Exposition excellence Awards. A phylloxera epidemic of the 1880s, followed by Prohibition, temporarily halted viticultural tourism before it was reawakened in the 1960s. 

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