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Fred Harvey Architect Mary Colter

Portrait of Mary Colter and her creations.

That Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (usually known as just Mary Colter) became the main architect and interior designer of Fred Harvey hotels across New Mexico and Arizona is one of the fascinating coincidences of history. Raised in the Midwest, Colter traveled to San Francisco to attend the California School of Design where her work in art and retail display was noticed by a cashier at a Fred Harvey location there. The cashier recommended her to Fred Harvey personnel, and in 1902 Colter was hired on a contract to design the interior of Fred Harvey's Indian Building at the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque. The rest as they say... is history!

Mary Colter's interior design of the Indian Building spawned "Santa Fe Style"

Fred Harvey's Indian Building at the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque.
Mary Colter's interior design of the Indian Building at the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque.

Mary Colter's Designs and Hotels

Fred Harvey hired Mary Colter permanently as the company's architect and put her to work designing interiors of Harvey Hotels, as well as designing hotels themselves. Heading in order from east to west we start with Colter's design of the interior of El Ortiz Hotel in Lamy, New Mexico in 1910. She furnished the lounge with Navajo rugs and displays of Pueblo pottery, much like she had done in the Indian Building. In Santa Fe, Colter helped architect John Gaw Meem design the expansion of La Fonda Hotel from 1926 to 1930, and she decorated the interior of the hotel rooms. In Gallup, Colter designed the interior of El Navajo Hotel, enlisting Fred Kabotie to paint interpretations of Navajo sand paintings on the walls. At the Painted Desert Inn in Arizona, she again used Fred Kabotie to paint native decorations on the interior walls. At Winslow, Colter created her masterpiece- La Posada Hotel, designed in the fashion of a Mexican hacienda. Then it was on to the Grand Canyon for more of her Southwest inspired work. 

Interior of the Painted Desert Inn.

At Painted Desert Inn Mary Colter used Fred Kabotie's designs on the walls.

La Posada Hotel, Winslow, AZ.

La Posada Hotel, Mary Colter's grand re-creation of a Mexican hacienda. 

Mary Colter's Grand Canyon

At the Grand Canyon Mary Colter went wild. Inspired by her travels across the Southwest and all the Native arts and crafts she had seen, she designed buildings, structures, hotels, and a grand tower to overlook it all. In 1905 her Hopi House opened right next to El Tovar Hotel on the canyon rim. Inside it was a sales room for Fred Harvey's native arts gathered by Harvey employee Herman Schweizer. Heading west along the rim from El Tovar in 1914, Colter designed two rest stops for the Detourists- Lookout Studio and Hermit's Rest. In 1922 she designed Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, with stone cabins to serve as overnight accommodations for weary hikers and mule riders. At the eastern end of the Grand Canyon's south rim, Colter constructed the Desert View Watchtower in 1932, allowing visitors to climb up four flights of stairs in the tower to get 360-degree views of the Canyon. And, in 1935, she designed Bright Angel Lodge, just west of El Tovar Hotel, providing a less expensive night's lodging than the hotel. One historian noted that "the fact that all of Colter's Grand Canyon buildings still stand and serve historic functions, despite the changing cultural landscape of the past century, is testament to the high esteem others have held for her work."

Mary Colter's Grand Canyon Creations

Hopi House at the Grand Canyon.

Hopi House at the Grand Canyon opened in 1905, and provided a sales room for Fred Harvey, as well as lodging for Hopi Indians who demonstrated pottery, weaving, and performed dances.

Lookout Studio at the Grand Canyon.

Lookout Studio provided visitors with telescopes to view down into the Grand Canyon. As with all of Mary Colter's Grand Canyon buildings, it was created with local stone.

Hermit's Rest at the Grand Canyon.

Hermit's Rest was a funky Mary Colter design, suggesting a mountain man's cave at the edge of the Grand Canyon. Seven miles west of El Tovar, it served snacks to Fred Harvey travelers. 

Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon along the Colorado River, had stone cabins and a dining hall to serve visitors. 

Desert View Watchtower at the Grand Canyon.

Harvey Coaches line up at the Desert View Watchtower to take tourists back to El Tovar Hotel. The tower is 70 feet high and 30 feet wide, overlooking the Grand Canyon.

Bright Angel Lodge at the Grand Canyon.

Mary Colter's Bright Angel Lodge stands just west of El Tovar Hotel, offering guests a less expensive (and less luxurious) stay than at the hotel. 

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