Weatherford Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Weatherford Hotel is a historic hotel in the downtown district of Flagstaff, Arizona
. The hotel was established in 1897 by John W. Weatherford, and is located one block north of U.S. Route 66
.
. The original structure housed a general store on the first floor, and the Weatherford family upstairs.
In March 1899, Weatheford began construction of a brick three-story hotel addition, with a grand opening on New Year's Day, 1900. For years, the Weatherford Hotel was the most prominent hotel in Flagstaff, entertaining guests such as artist Thomas Moran
, publisher William Randolf Hearst, and writer Zane Grey
. Grey's famous novel "The Call of the Canyon
" was written in the recently renovated Zane Grey Ballroom on the third floor of the hotel.
A beautiful sunroom occupied part of the top floor and was used for dances and parties, while numerous civic groups engaged the downstairs. A three-sided balcony, visible in the 1905 photograph hanging in the Ballroom was damaged by fire and removed in 1929, along with the original cupola. At various times, the hotel housed a restaurant, theater, and billiard hall and radio station.
Henry Taylor, the present owner, purchased the hotel in 1975 in an attempt to keep it from being demolished, at a time when the downtown area was in an acute state of disrepair and decline. Since then, Henry and his wife Pamela (Sam) have been continually renovating the structure, with the goal of restoring the hotel to its original grandeur. Today's Weatherford Hotel is still changing. The third floor Ballroom was renovated and reopened in 1997 and the first stage of reconstructing the wrap-around porches were finished in February 1999.
When transcontinental telephone service first reached Flagstaff about 1910, a small brick building with a three-bay facade of red Coconino sandstone
was erected south of the Weatheford Hotel to serve the telephone company, becoming part of the "Weatherford Block". The building served its original purpose until at least the 1930s, when it underwent the first of two modernizations.
The sandstone facade was stuccoed over in a modified art-deco style
, and in the 1950s aluminum siding was added. It was known for some years as the "Le Brea Cafe", an establishment whose character does not appear to have elicited any significant historic recollection.
The cafe facade renovation completed in 1995 restored the appearance of the original 1909 Telephone Exchange. The elegant simplicity and casual ambiance of the "Exchange Pub" is reminiscent of Flagstaff's at its turn of the century heyday.
The renovation continues today with future expansions to include the development of the basement which was the original Hotel Pub & Restaurant in 1900. Also planned is the completion of the existing balconies which will wrap around to the west of the building.
The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1978.
It is located at 23 N. Leroux St. in Flagstaff.
Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2010, the city's population was 65,870. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was at 134,421 in 2010. It is the county seat of Coconino County...
. The hotel was established in 1897 by John W. Weatherford, and is located one block north of U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...
.
History
Disastrous fires plagued early Flagstaff, like most frontier towns. After a particularly bad series of blazes in 1897, the City passed an ordinance requiring all buildings in the business area to be built of brick, stone or iron. Among the new buildings appearing in the year 1898 was the Weatherford Hotel, built by John W. Weatherford (1859–1934), a native of Weatherford, TexasWeatherford, Texas
Weatherford is a city in Parker County, Texas, United States, and a western suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 19,000 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Parker County and is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.-Geography:...
. The original structure housed a general store on the first floor, and the Weatherford family upstairs.
In March 1899, Weatheford began construction of a brick three-story hotel addition, with a grand opening on New Year's Day, 1900. For years, the Weatherford Hotel was the most prominent hotel in Flagstaff, entertaining guests such as artist Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran from Bolton, England was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family took residence in New York where he obtained work as an artist...
, publisher William Randolf Hearst, and writer Zane Grey
Zane Grey
Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the Old West. Riders of the Purple Sage was his bestselling book. In addition to the success of his printed works, they later had second lives and continuing influence...
. Grey's famous novel "The Call of the Canyon
The Call of the Canyon
The Call of the Canyon is a silent Western directed by Victor Fleming. The film was based on the story of the same name by Zane Grey.-Preservation status:...
" was written in the recently renovated Zane Grey Ballroom on the third floor of the hotel.
A beautiful sunroom occupied part of the top floor and was used for dances and parties, while numerous civic groups engaged the downstairs. A three-sided balcony, visible in the 1905 photograph hanging in the Ballroom was damaged by fire and removed in 1929, along with the original cupola. At various times, the hotel housed a restaurant, theater, and billiard hall and radio station.
Henry Taylor, the present owner, purchased the hotel in 1975 in an attempt to keep it from being demolished, at a time when the downtown area was in an acute state of disrepair and decline. Since then, Henry and his wife Pamela (Sam) have been continually renovating the structure, with the goal of restoring the hotel to its original grandeur. Today's Weatherford Hotel is still changing. The third floor Ballroom was renovated and reopened in 1997 and the first stage of reconstructing the wrap-around porches were finished in February 1999.
When transcontinental telephone service first reached Flagstaff about 1910, a small brick building with a three-bay facade of red Coconino sandstone
Coconino Sandstone
Coconino Sandstone is a geologic formation named after its exposure in Coconino County, Arizona. This formation spreads across the Colorado Plateau province of the United States, including northern Arizona, northwest Colorado, Nevada, and Utah....
was erected south of the Weatheford Hotel to serve the telephone company, becoming part of the "Weatherford Block". The building served its original purpose until at least the 1930s, when it underwent the first of two modernizations.
The sandstone facade was stuccoed over in a modified art-deco style
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
, and in the 1950s aluminum siding was added. It was known for some years as the "Le Brea Cafe", an establishment whose character does not appear to have elicited any significant historic recollection.
The cafe facade renovation completed in 1995 restored the appearance of the original 1909 Telephone Exchange. The elegant simplicity and casual ambiance of the "Exchange Pub" is reminiscent of Flagstaff's at its turn of the century heyday.
The renovation continues today with future expansions to include the development of the basement which was the original Hotel Pub & Restaurant in 1900. Also planned is the completion of the existing balconies which will wrap around to the west of the building.
The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1978.
It is located at 23 N. Leroux St. in Flagstaff.