Literary Site Type: Historical Site

In August 2012, room 222 in the Strater Hotel was designated a literary landmark in honor of Western author Louis L’Amour (1908-1988). For more than ten years, Louis L’Amour spent the month of August writing in room 222, citing the sounds from the Diamond Bell Saloon directly below as inspiration for his writing. Founded in 1887, the Strater Hotel features authentic American Victorian antique furniture and decor. It is home to the Henry Strater Theatre, which features vaudeville performances and other entertainment.

Located in the Union Square neighborhood of San Francisco, John’s Grill was a setting in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. In the film, Sam Spade asks the waiter to hurry his order of “chops, baked potato, and sliced tomatoes.” The interior features original period furnishings and authentic memorabilia. In 1997, John’s Grill was declared a National Literary Landmark.

Constructed in 1857, the Mother Colony House, one of the oldest buildings in Anaheim, California, is an American Territorial–style cottage built from redwood. It was once home to Nobel Prize–winning Polish writer Henryke Sienkiewicz. The house is now a museum overseen by the Anaheim Library. Tours are given by appointment only.

A plaque honoring Richard Wright is mounted on the writer’s former residence in Fort Greene in Brooklyn, New York. Wright often visited the nearby Fort Greene Park to write notes for his novel Native Son.