Built in 1856 as the two-story Williams Hotel, the building was bought in 1875 by Mr. E.A. Kingsley for $2,000 and renamed The Veranda. A kitchen fire in January 1884 destroyed the hotel, adjoining buildings, and took the life of one guest. Although insurance did not cover the loss, Mrs. Kingsley soon planned a new Commercial Hotel on the site. With balconies on three sides and a dining room seating more than 100 guests, it was considered the finest lodging in Ione City, charging $2 per day. On July 12, 1930, a fire caused by faulty wiring on the third floor destroyed the hotel, its first-floor restaurant, and the California Trust and Savings Bank inside, though the Ione and Jackson Fire Departments stopped the flames from spreading to neighboring buildings. Damage was estimated at $25,000, and the top two floors were a total loss. The surviving ground floor was soon remodeled for various businesses, including a Bank of America, a piano studio run by Elizabeth Brubeck, mother of jazz musician Dave Brubeck, and Gillum's Grocery Store. In 1966, the City of Ione bought and altered the building again for use as City Hall and the Police Department after the former City Hall was also destroyed by fire.