James H. Bradley in 1854 built the American Hotel, the first sawed-lumber house in Quincy. On March 18, 1854, three commissioners met there to form a new county from a portion of Butte County, and the hotel became the county seat of Plumas County until a more suitable location could be found. Plumas Lodge No. 60, F. & A.M., instituted May 1, 1854, met in an upstairs room in the hotel until their new Quincy temple was completed in 1855.

Citation from California Office of Historic Preservation