Images
of America’ s
Historic National park lodges
STORY AND PHOTOS BY David and Kay Scott
Have you seen Yellowstone’ s iconic Old Faithful Inn before its 1904 opening?
Did you know employees at the North Rim’ s Grand Canyon Lodge regularly serenaded departing guests? Guests at some park lodges were serenaded when they arrived and departed.
National park lodges sometimes treated guests to weekly employee talent shows. The two of us enjoyed an employee talent show at Bryce Canyon Lodge in 1996.
This story includes images and overviews for four of our favorite historic national park lodges. There are more, of course, many of which unfortunately are no longer with us.
El Tovar Hotel
1 El Tovar Road Grand Canyon Village, AZ 86023 928-638-2631 nps. gov / places / 000 / el-tovar-hotel. htm
El Tovar Hotel opens on Grand Canyon’ s South Rim( circa 1905). The El Tovar welcomed its first visitors in 1905, 14 years before congress made Grand Canyon a national park, but it had been a national monument since 1908.
Such an elegant hotel near the edge of the remote canyon became financially viable after a 65-mile railroad spur was completed to the South Rim.
The upscale hotel had a coal-fired generator for electric power, hot and cold running water, and indoor plumbing with community bathrooms.
David and Kay Scott are authors of |“ Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges”( Globe Pequot). They live in Valdosta, Georgia. Visit them at blog. valdosta. edu / dlscott.
6 Community Life