Wigwam Motel - Route 66 - Holbrook, Arizona
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Wigwam Motel - Route 66 - Holbrook, Arizona
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
A night at the Wigwam Motel. Located on historic U.S. Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona, the Wigwam Motel is one of the most iconic and unique pieces of Roadside Architecture along the entire Mother Road.
Like the neon sign above the office asks, "Have you slept in a wigwam lately?"
If your answer is "No," maybe it's time you did!
Once a small motel chain, seven of these Wigwam Villages, built in the 1930 and 40s, were scattered throughout the United States. Only three remain, with two of those being along Route 66. The one in Holbrook and another in San Bernardino, California.
In 1938, Chester E. Lewis, while passing through Kentucky, visited a Wigwam Village built by architect Frank Redford. Redford, who had pattened the design in 1936, created a motel/café/gift shop/gas station complex using the eye-appealing gimmick of Native American teepees, which he incorrectly called Wigwams simply because he preferred the name. Mr. Lewis loved the idea and negotiated with him to use his blueprints ten years later. In exchange, as a royalty, Mr. Redford would receive all the proceeds from coin-operated AM radios that Lewis installed in each teepee.
The Wigwam Village Motel #6 opened on June 1, 1950. Mr. Lewis' motel has 15 free-standing Native American teepees, with each teepee being an individual sleeping unit. There was a larger teepee used as the motel office space and Texaco Service Station, but it was too small to handle the traffic for both businesses during the busy season. That teepee was replaced in 1956, with the building seen today. It has two smaller teepees, one on each side for the restrooms, one for Squaws, and the one for the Braves.
Baby Boomer youngsters raised on the television westerns about "Cowboys and Indians" often cried if they didn't get to sleep in a teepee. Helping to make the Wigwam Motel an immediate success!
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, a portion of the office space now contains a museum with Mr. Lewis' collection of Indian artifacts, Civil War memorabilia, and Route 66 collectibles. In addition, there is a nice collection of petrified wood on-site. Mr. Lewis' Studebaker and a wonderful collection of 1950s cars are parked outside the teepees make visiting the Wigwam Village feel like you stepped back in time
The vintage cars shown are the 1951 Studebaker Pickup, the 1952 Ford Ranch Wagon, and the 1952 Ford Custom Line.
Special Features:
HDR Photography 3.10.22
Copyright 2022 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
January 13th, 2022
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