Three granite stones came from the foundation of the Hesperia Hotel, possibly the High Desert's greatest landmark. Built in the late 1880s, the hotel stood at the corner of Hesperia Road and Spruce for nearly 75 years and was regarded as a skyscraper. It closed in 1926 when Route 66 officially opened and rerouted traffic in a straight line from Cajon Summit to Victorville instead of through Hesperia and along the Old Government Road to Victorville. In later years, it was realized that the hotel's red bricks were unfired adobe clay and that the structure could not be reinforced for earthquakes, leading to the sad decision to burn and bulldoze the hotel to the ground in 1960.