Public Art "Seth Thomas Clock", Riverside, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Seth Thomas Clock is a piece of public art at 3737 Mission Inn Avenue in Riverside, California, the address of the Mission Inn, the city's best-known hotel. It sits in the middle of downtown, which makes it an easy first stop for anyone exploring the inn and the streets around it.

The story behind it

The clock shares its address with the Mission Inn, and the story of this corner is largely the inn's story. It began as a modest adobe boarding house, the Glenwood Cottage, built by Christopher Columbus Miller. His son Frank Augustus Miller later took over the property and set out to turn it into a grand hotel, expanding it over the years into the sprawling building you see today. It is generally described as the largest Mission Revival style building in the United States, even though it blends many architectural styles.

Behind the hotel's rise was citrus. In the late 1800s Riverside was a centre of California's orange industry, and the money from the groves brought investors and wealthy travellers to town who wanted somewhere fine to stay. The inn became a showcase of that prosperity and hosted a long line of notable guests. Richard and Pat Nixon were married there, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan honeymooned there.

What to look for

• Find the Seth Thomas Clock itself, listed as public art at this address, and take a moment to see how it sits against the buildings around it.
• Look up at the Mission Inn's walls, arches and rooflines, where several architectural styles are mixed into one large Mission Revival composition.
• Notice how big the hotel is as you walk its edges, a reminder of the ambition Frank Miller had for it.
• Think about the orange groves that once surrounded downtown Riverside, since the wealth they produced paid for much of what you are looking at.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 15 to 20 minutes to see the clock and walk around the outside of the inn, and more if you want to take a tour.
• The inn runs tours and has a donation-based museum about its history, so check current opening hours and tour availability before you go.
• Daylight is best for photographing the architecture, and the area is pleasant for a stroll at any time of day.
• Downtown Riverside's streets, shops and cafes are close by, so this works well as the start of a longer walk.

See it on a quest

Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Riverside is a good fit if you like a mystery with your sightseeing. You walk to this spot as one stop on a longer route through the area, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group.

Christmas Operation: Sleigh Down in Riverside gives you a festive reason to explore downtown on foot. The app guides you from place to place, shares the story of each stop and sets a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

Kid Quest: Solve the case of the lost senses in Riverside suits families who want children to look closely at the streets rather than just walk past them. You reach each place on foot, hear about it in the app and solve a puzzle there. One ticket covers the whole group.