Home » 2013 Pacific Northwest

Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park, CA

Sunday, September 29, 2013 - 10:00am by Lolo
92 miles and 2 hours from our last stop

Travelogue

Bidwell MansionBidwell MansionI love mansion tours and seeing how people lived in different times and places. We have been on our fair share of them over the years, our favorites being the grand “cottages” in Newport, Rhode Island. When Tommy was little he used to hate these tours. He called them “butt tours,” because he was eye level with the rest of the tour groups’ butts, and that was all he could see. Well, today we would go on a butt tour of the Bidwell Mansion in Chico, California.

A mansion tour is about so much more than just a structure. For me, it’s an intimate entry into someone’s past, and it is the details of that past that make the tour interesting. Before we got here, I had never even heard of John Bidwell or knew very much about the town of Chico. Nor for that matter, did I really know that much about the history of California, Now that we were going to be spending more of our time in this beautiful state, it was about time we did. The Bidwell Mansion was a good place to start, and I plan to drag my readers along with me.

John and Annie Bidwell Portraits in Foyer with Tour GroupJohn and Annie Bidwell Portraits in Foyer with Tour GroupThis was the home of John Bidwell and his wife Annie from 1868 to 1918. Bidwell first came to California in 1841, when he was just 22 years old. He worked for John Sutter, the man who owned the mill where the California Gold Rush began, before venturing out and making his own gold strike near the Middle Fork of the Feather River. He used his new-found wealth to purchase more than 30,000 acres, which he called Rancho del Arroyo Chico, and became deeply involved in the development of the new state of California, its agriculture, and the city of Chico. In fact, it was he that gave Chico its name.

Right around the time the mansion was being completed, Bidwell went off to Washington to serve as California’s representative to Congress. It was there that he met Annie Ellicott Kennedy, who he married in 1868. They were very like-minded and both worked hard on causes to improve the lives of Californians, such as women’s voting rights, prohibition, and education. In fact, it was their original donation of eight acres of their cherry orchard to form a teachers’ college that was the beginning of what is today Chico State University.

Bidwell Mansion Elephant Trunk ToiletBidwell Mansion Elephant Trunk ToiletThis beautiful three-story, Italianate-style Victorian mansion became the center of the town’s social and political life. Many distinguished guests were entertained here, such as President Rutherford B. Hayes, John Muir, Susan B. Anthony, and General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Today the mansion is a State Historic Park and a California Historic Landmark, where visitors like us can take a tour and step back in time to an interesting part of California’s past.

Description

Bidwell Mansion ParlorBidwell Mansion ParlorThe Bidwell Mansion, located in Chico, California, was the home of John Bidwell and his wife Annie. This three-story, Italianate-style Victorian mansion, with a pink plaster finish, was built between 1865 and 1868.

John Bidwell first came to California in 1841, when he was just 22 years old. During his early years in California, he worked for John Sutter, of California Gold Rush fame. In 1848, Bidwell made his own gold discovery near the Middle Fork of the Feather River, and used his new-found wealth to purchase more than 30,000 acres, which he called Rancho del Arroyo Chico. He became deeply involved in the development of the new state of California, its agriculture, and the city of Chico, which he named.

From 1865 to 1866, Bidwell served as California’s representative in the U.S. Congress. It was here that he met Annie Ellicott Kennedy. They married in 1868. During their life-long, happy marriage, they worked together to support women’s voting rights and the prohibition movement. The home which they shared from 1868 to 1900 became the center of the town’s social and political life, where they entertained such distinguished guests as President Rutherford B. Hayes, John Muir, Susan B. Anthony, and General William T. Sherman.

Bidwell and his wife were proponents of higher education, so in the 1880s they donated eight acres of their cherry orchard to form a teachers’ college, which was called Chico State Normal School. It is now the California State University, at Chico.

Today the mansion is a State Historic Park and a California Historic Landmark. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Guided one-hour tours are required to see the inside of the mansion.

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Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park location map in "high definition"

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