The Hollingbery family is from England and for three generations, the men (and women) were known for their tailoring and/or dressmaker skills.
Taylor brothers, George and William Hollingbery, came to the United States in 1870. While George Hollingbery and his four sons stayed in Kansas, William Hollingbery pressed on to Gilroy where he and his wife raised their family of five children.
Son William Voss Hollingbery, Sr. married and set out to provide for his wife and two sons by establishing a tailor shop on San Benito Street in 1892. A newspaper ad reads, “The only Tailor in town you can depend upon for a perfect fitting suit is W.V. Hollingbery. He don’t cut misfits.” This was also the same year William Voss and his brother Frank George established themselves in the tailoring business in Salinas. William Voss also purchased a house lot on Fifth Street and the home was probably built the following spring in 1893, a Queen Anne with stain glass windows.
William Voss Hollingbery, Sr. planned a trip to the Klondike in 1898, and he must have done well; upon his return he purchased the Wells Opera House in 1902, renaming it Hollingbery Hall and then purchased the McMahon Hotel in 1903, renaming it Hotel Hollister. His brother Frank George was the proprietor.
After a few more land purchases, William Voss Hollingbery, Sr. and his family moved to San Francisco in 1907 where his two sons continued their education. William Voss Hollingbery, Jr. became Undersheriff of San Francisco and younger brother “Babe” Hollingbery grew up to be the famed Head Football Coach at Washington State in 1926.
In 1946, “Babe” Hollingbery established Hollingbery & Son in Yakima, WA, a hops brokerage now in its fourth generation of family operation.