Audio
Full Steam Ahead: Stop 6 Bright Angel Lodge
Transcript
Before visitation increased post-World War II, a different post-war boom lead to the development of the Bright Angel Lodge. In front of you stands the log cabin style main lodge. The park hoped to incorporate additional lodging before World War I, but with the onset of the war, many projects were put on pause. After the war, in 1925, Mary Colter came up with a plan to use part of the old Bright Angel Hotel. She couldn’t use the main lodge because of its “ramshackle condition” but instead incorporated some of the older cabins into her design. These cabins would come at a variety of price points and be much more appealing to the average visitor. What accommodations do you look for in a place to stay? Would you want something glamorous, rustic, or something in between? Would your choices be different if you lived in the 1920?
After about 20 new cabins were constructed , the stock market crashed in 1929 and America entered the Great Depression. Resources and funding put a halt on tourism focused construction, as the park saw a steep drop in visitation. Shortly after the end of the Great Depression, visitation slowly increased back at Grand Canyon. With an increase in tourism, the National Park Service put pressure on the Fred Harvey company to finish the Bright Angel Lodge construction. Despite setbacks along the way, the main building of the Bright Angel Lodge opened for business in 1935, with a celebration including cowboy songs, Hopi dances, and a barbeque. [Arkansas Traveler song played on a fiddle] One year later, the remainder of the cabin style accommodations were completed.
By walking around the Bright Angel cabins, you’ll notice a variety of materials were used. Mary Colter’s goal was to make it seem as if the cabins had grown and developed over time while on the rim of the canyon. Rather than having every cabin identical, she used log and stone materials in varied quantities to ensure that no two cabins looked exactly the same. The cabins were built to accommodate three price points for various income levels: economy, moderately priced rooms, and deluxe cottages.
The completion of the Bright Angel lodge brought on a couple of pivotal moments in Grand Canyon Village history. It allowed the Fred Harvey company to catch up with tourism demands until post WWII, when the Kachina and Thunderbird lodges were established. It was also a culminating project for Mary Colter, as it was her last major architectural commission from the Fred Harvey company.
With the establishment of three new lodges -- Bright Angel, Kachina, and Thunderbird -- more visitors than ever could stay overnight inside the park. The Hopi House and Verkamp’s Curio Shop allowed to buy souvenirs. Enough shoppers lead to the establishment of more businesses and even competition between them. Further west in the historic village, we see evidence in this with another Mary Colter building, Lookout Studio, and the privately owned Kolb Studio.
Description
The completion of the Bright Angel Lodge brought on a couple of pivotal moments in Grand Canyon Village history. It allowed the Fred Harvey company to catch up with tourism demands until post WWII, when the Kachina and Thunderbird lodges were established. It was also a culminating project for Mary Colter, as it was her last major architectural commission from the Fred Harvey company.
Credit
Grand Canyon National Park
Date Created
09/09/2021
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