Established
in 1937
Pony Ranch Hotel feature of valley's
Gold CanyonBy Roger Brandt
For IVNIn the late 1930s, William Greiner was passing through Illinois Valley and was so impressed with what he saw that he bought 500 acres of land before continuing to his destination, the William Greiner Shrine Children’s Home in Arlington Calif.
Within the next two years he would return to Illinois Valley to establish a school for the children at his institution, mostly troubled kids from broken homes. This would become known as the Gold Canyon Pony Ranch.
Work on the facilities began in 1939, with 12 journeymen carpenters working to build an L-shaped dormitory or bunkhouse for the boys and ranch workers. Later, several older boys were sent from Arlington to work with the carpenters on a barn, a three-story hotel, a house for the care-taker, a four-car garage, four rental cottages, and other work including installation of fence lines.
All the boys from the ranch attended Kerby Union High School, which at that time had a total enrollment of some 100 students. For many of these boys, all of whom had grown up in an environment of family turmoil, the experience of being in a community with strong family values was one of the most positive things they remembered about Illinois Valley.
The Pony Ranch was planned and built to board a number of boys, but it was only in operation approximately 18 months. There were eight boys living there at the height of operations.
The Pony Ranch Hotel was the most visible part of the ranch because of its location next to Hwy. 199. It was a large structure approximately 50 feet wide by 100 feet long and included a store and restaurant. On the south side of the hotel there were four cabins for travelers who wanted more privacy.
A Morgan stallion was kept out front of the hotel all the time, presumably to serve the function of being a mascot “pony” for the Pony Hotel. The hotel was destroyed by fire around 1942 and was never reconstructed.
Gold Canyon Road is located off Hwy. 199 approximately 6 miles north of Cave Junction. The large hotel and cabins were located on the flat area next to Hwy. 199 immediately south of the entrance to Gold Canyon Road.
If you drive a short distance up Gold Canyon Road, you can see the old care-taker house on the right. Across the road from this structure is a flat area where the dormitory was located.
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