On our way to Canyon de Chelly, we stayed overnight at La Posada in Winslow, Arizona. La Posada's story began with Fred Harvey, who developed and ran all
the hotels and restaurants of the Santa Fe Railway. In the 1920s, Harvey decided to build a major hotel in the center
of northern Arizona. “La Posada” was to be the finest
in the Southwest. Construction costs alone exceeded $1 million in 1929.
They chose Winslow because it was the Arizona headquarters for the Santa Fe Railway. They asked Mary Jane Colter to
design the new hotel. Colter worked for the Fred Harvey Company from 1905 until her
retirement in the 1950s. Although famous for her magnificent buildings
at the Grand Canyon, she considered La Posada her masterpiece.
La Posada opened May 15, 1930, just after the stock market crash
of 1929, and remained open for just 27 years. In 1957, the hotel closed
to the public. The museum-quality furnishings were auctioned off in
1959. In the early 1960s, much of the building was gutted and
transformed into offices for the Santa Fe Railway. La Posada was purchased in 1994 and the process of renovation began. Papa and I stayed at La Posada in 2005. This was our second visit. I enjoy staying in historic hotels and
La Posada is special.
