La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona

By Kristy McCaffrey

Mary Jane Colter

Long before Flagstaff and Sedona became popular vacation towns in Arizona, everyone visited Winslow and the La Posada Hotel for special occasions. Built in 1929 by the Santa Fe Railway, it was the work of esteemed architect Mary Jane Colter, known for the design of many structures at the Grand Canyon. La Posada, however, was her masterpiece and favorite project.

La Posada is one of the last of a series of hotel-depot complexes built across the Southwestern United States in a collaboration between Fred Harvey and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Designed for a railroad traveling public, the original front door faced the tracks to the south. It was thought that most guests would arrive by train and stay for several days, so day tours to the Petrified Forest and Indian sites were made available. For a fee you could get a driver, a guide, a picnic, and a custom Packard or Cadillac touring car.

Colter chose two patron saints for La Posada—San Pasqual, Patron Saint of Feasts, and San Ysidro, Patron of Farmers.

La Posada was officially a Harvey House. Usually, Harvey Girls had a distinct uniform—black dresses with white aprons. But Mary Jane Colter felt the uniform was too severe for La Posada so she substituted colorful aprons with green, blue, or red backgrounds, quilted cacti, donkeys, and snoozing, big-hatted ranch hands. La Posada was the only Harvey Hotel allowed a non-standard uniform.

The kitchens of La Posada were the finest in the Four Corners region. It wasn’t unusual in the 1930’s and 1940’s for hotel to serve 1000 meals a day. In addition to the main kitchen, there was a full bakery and butcher shop, store rooms and freezers, china and linen rooms, and a lead-lined walk-in humidor for cigars. They even refrigerated the kitchen trash to keep it from smelling.

Most halls ran north-south to capture prevailing winds, and guest doors were louvered to create convection currents. A wind tower exists to capture warm air as it blows in from the southwest across watered lawns, where it’s cooled, humidified, and pushed through public spaces in the hotel. Colter filled La Posada with such passive solar details to keep the hotel comfortable during Arizona’s hot summers.

La Posada today.

Famous people who’ve visited include Howard Hughes (Winslow was a TWA stop and he owned the airline), and Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow, who resided during part of their honeymoon. They also stayed while Lindbergh designed Winslow’s airfield (the world’s only surviving Lindbergh-designed airport). Other famous guests: Albert Einstein, Will Rogers and Diane Keaton.

Fun fact: Down the street from La Posada is a small
monument to the Eagles' song "Take It Easy."
...Standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona...

******

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Haunted Route 66 in Arizona

By Kristy McCaffrey

Established in 1926, Route 66 was one of the main highways in the U.S. Highway System. Sometimes called the Will Rogers Highway, it became one of the most famous roads in America, running from Chicago to Santa Monica, California. Stops in between included St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Winslow (Arizona), and Barstow (California). Decommissioned in 1985, sections of the highway have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the “Historic Route 66.”

After World War II, Route 66 became the ultimate road trip for intrepid travelers, leaving a lasting impression in life, and perhaps even in death.

The Hotel Monte Vista in Flagstaff has many ghostly sightings. John Wayne—a guest while filming in Monument Valley—believed he encountered the Phantom Bellboy, who knocks on doors and announces, “room service.” Other spirits include a bank robber who haunts the lounge where he bled to death, an elevator attendant who assists guests, and a woman who stares out the window of Room 305. It’s also been reported that a ghostly Alan Ladd once approached Room 309, which is named after him.

The Red Garter Inn, a former saloon and bordello in Williams, has reports of doors slamming and footsteps when no one is around. Many believe the culprit is a young Hispanic woman named Eve, although no one knows why. Other ghosts include a man who was knifed on the staircase leading to the brothel and an old man who committed suicide.

In 1927, Walter Peck discovered the Grand Canyon Caverns in Peach Springs. He offered tours to Route 66 travelers, pointing out the remains of “cavemen” who later proved to be the skeletal remnants of Hualapai tribesman. Visitors to the caves, especially those who stay overnight, report hearing moaning sounds, seeing shadowy figures, and having rocks aggressively thrown at them from the area where the skeletons were removed. The bunkhouse is also allegedly haunted.

The El Trovatore Motel in Kingman reports that many guests have heard children talking in the parking lot. This has been an ongoing phenomenon for many years. The children are never seen and seem to come from a gorge where Native Americans used to live behind the motel.

La Posada Hotel, located in Winslow, Arizona, was one of the last hotels built for the Fred Harvey Company and designed by the famous Southwest architect Mary Jane Colter. It is said there are ghosts on the property, confirmed by several ghost hunters, but none appear to be malicious. Instead, it’s believed they are the spirits of people who want to return to the most exciting trip they’d ever taken.

Route 66 runs along Interstate 40 in Arizona, and this 158-mile stretch is the longest remaining intact section in the nation.

Have a happy and spooky October.

Kristy McCaffrey has been writing since she was very young, but it wasn’t until she was a stay-at-home mom that she considered becoming published. She’s the author of several historical western romances, all set in the American southwest. She lives in the Arizona desert with her husband, two chocolate labs, and whichever of their four teenage children happen to be in residence.

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Winslow, Arizona

By Kristy McCaffrey

Located in northeastern Arizona lies the town of Winslow. In 1880, Winslow became a division point for the Santa Fe Railway and in 1881 became a regular terminal. A post office was established in 1882. The town, originally just a tent settlement, was named for General Edward F. Winslow, president of the railroad.

Winslow, Arizona ~ 1890

Long before Flagstaff and Sedona became popular vacation towns in Arizona, everyone visited Winslow and the La Posada Hotel for special occasions. Built in 1929 by the Santa Fe Railway, it was the work of esteemed architect Mary Jane Colter, known for the design of many structures at the Grand Canyon. La Posada, however, was her masterpiece and favorite project.

La Posada Hotel

La Posada is one of the last of a series of hotel-depot complexes built across the Southwestern United States in a collaboration between Fred Harvey and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Designed for a railroad traveling public, the original front door faced the tracks to the south. It was thought that most guests would arrive by train and stay for several days, so day tours to the Petrified Forest and Indian sites were made available. For a fee you could get a driver, a guide, a picnic, and a custom Packard or Cadillac touring car.

The Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport was designed by Charles Lindbergh and is the last remaining airfield in the world drafted by the famed pilot. Currently there are no commercial flights, but in the 1920’s and ‘30’s TWA ran eight flights a day. Howard Hughes, the owner of TWA, was a frequent visitor.

Winslow ~ 1921

Winslow was the biggest city in the region through the 1950’s. Fred Harvey thought that it would grow to be like Santa Fe and become the cultural and money capital of northern Arizona. Downtown Winslow was so busy that Route 66—originally routed through the town—became the first divided highway in Arizona, and hosted department stores like Sears, Pennys and Wards, a 400-seat theater, and over a hundred local businesses. Unfortunately, the town declined as train travel became less prevalent and Interstate-40 bypassed the area.

Winslow was made famous in the Eagles’ 1972 song “Take It Easy”, written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey, and a monument on a street corner in town commemorates the reference.

Me at the monument to 'Take It Easy'.

“...standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin’ down to take a look at me.”

Today, La Posada Hotel has been restored and tourism benefits the town, which lies in close proximity to the Navajo Reservation, the Painted Desert, and Meteor Crater.

Inside La Posada today.

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