November 1, 1917 Merced Evening Star HOTEL AT EL PORTAL DESTROYED BY FIRE       Fire at 4:15 o'clock Friday afternoon destroyed the Hotel del Portal, the Yosemite guest resort at El Portal, the National Park terminal of the Yosemite Valley railroad, seventy-eight miles from Merced and fourteen miles from Yosemite. The fire started inside the building, and gained such headway that the structure was a total loss. The cause of the fire is unknown. The hotel was built in 1907, and is valued at approximately $100,000. It was operated by the Desmond Park Service Company. For a number of years it was owned and operated by the Yosemite Terminal Company, a subsidiary corporation of the Yosemite Valley Railroad. Containing 150 rooms and its spacious lobbies and verandas, it was one of the most attractive tourist hotels in the state. W. M. Sell, Sr., was the manager of the resort for several years. Less than a year ago the Desmond Park Service Company took over the property and has since operated it in connection with their chain of hotels and lodges throughout Yosemite National Park. The hotel was located on a commanding spot on a bluff above the river, at an elevation of 2,000 feet. During the first few years of its operation the hotel was the overnight stop in travel between Merced and Yosemite, but in the last year or so, when the "Through to Yosemite by Daylight" schedule was adopted, the hotel has done its chief business at the lunch hour, when it entertained the travelers to and from Yosemite.       Manager Lehmer of the Yosemite Valley railroad left for San Francisco Tuesday to attend a meeting at which details regarding the new hotel to be built at El Portal will be discussed. He gave the opinion that a hotel of about forty rooms, with modern lunch counter may be built on the site of the temporary eating house that was erected after the completion of the Y. V. Railroad.

November 2. 1917 Merced County Sun DESMOND MANAGER SEVERELY BURNED IN THE HOTEL FIRE ( From Monday's Daily )       F. E. Farrow, manager of the Desmond Park Service company in Yosemite, was brought here yesterday from El Portal, and taken to a San Francisco hospital to be treated for severe burns received while fighting the fire which destroyed the $100,000 Hotel Del Portal at El Portal last Friday. He was burned about the hands and face, and it is believed likely that skin grafting will be necessary.       Farrow, Manager, W. M. Sell, Jr., of the Sentinel hotel, and Forest Ranger Townsley were fighting the fire in the upper part of the building - Farrow being on the top floor, Townsley on the roof, and Sell in the attic. They thought they had the fire under control when the cry from below warned them to leave the building. They immediately went to the fire escape. Farrow, the last to go down, was burned painfully.       The first detailed account of the fire was told today after the arrival of General Manager 0. W. Lehmer and J. H. Ellis of the Yosemite Valley railroad, who visited the ruins on Saturday. The fire caught in the attic in the wing over the kitchen. The flame was first seen issuing from the roof at about 3:45 o'clock. Farrow, Sell and Townsley with a crew of men hastened from Yosemite to aid the El Portal band in fighting the flame, but the fire made too fast headway. The blaze traveled from the roof down the wall to the cellar, and the situation then was hopeless. The hotel was burned completely. Furniture which had been carried outdoors also burned, being too near the fire. The cottage of Robert Monner nearby was destroyed, but part of the furniture was saved.       Manager Lehmer of the Yosemite Valley railroad left for San Francisco today to attend a meeting at which details regarding the new hotel to be built at El Portal will be discussed. He gave the opinion that a hotel of about forty rooms, with modern furnishings and an attractive lunch counter may be built.

November 3, 1917 Mariposa Gazette HOTEL AT EL PORTAL DESTROYED BY FIRE       The Hotel Del Portal, the $100,000 Yosemite Tourist Resort at El Portal was totally destroyed by fire Friday afternoon of last week. The hotel was regarded as one of the most attractive resorts in the state. It was an imposing structure with 150 guest rooms and spacious lobbies and verandas and was situated on a bluff above the Merced river, 2000 feet in elevation. The hotel was built in 1907 by the Yosemite Terminal Company and a short time since was taken over by the Desmond Park Service Company to operate with the chain of other Yosemite resorts on that concern.       It is stated that a hotel of about forty rooms, with an attractive lunch counter will be erected at El Portal to replace the one destroyed.