Madonna Inn: A Hotel in Context

Author

Galadriel Bree Highhouse, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis ObispoFollow

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2011.224
Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/669

Date of Award

12-2011

Degree Name

MA in History

Department/Program

History

Advisor

Matthew Hopper

Abstract

This paper examines the political, economic and social influences that contributed to the development of the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. I provide a brief history of the hotel industry and place the Madonna Inn within the historiography and argue that the nexus of three elements in the 1950s and 1960s led to the growth and popularity of the Madonna Inn: fear of nuclear war, growth of the middle class, and the rise of automobile culture in America.