Arizona Places: Wigwam Motel Holbrook AZ

Want to give the kids a real treat this weekend and see some of northern Arizona?  Visit great natural sites like Meteor Crater and the Painted Desert and stay in an Indian style (sort of) Tepee.  You sure can.  It all starts with a relatively short car ride to Holbrook and a stop at the Wigwam Motel.

The history of the Wigwam Motel is very interesting for many people.  Chester E. Lewis, had other motels along Old Route 66 in the 1930's in other Arizona cities.  He saw his first Wigwam Village in Cave City, Kentucky in 1938.  A man by the name of Frank Redford already had a couple of Wigwam Villages built in Kentucky by that time.

Chester decided that he would like to build a Wigwam Village of his own.  In that time period, the term franchises or chain motels were not known of, much less used.  Mr. Redford was more interested in sharing his novel idea than making money. Mr. Lewis and Mr. Redford came to an agreement that radios would be placed in each Wigwam that would play for one half hour for a silver dime.  Mr. Redford would then receive the dimes from the radios for a period of some years in payment for the use of his plans.

There were seven of these Wigwam Villages built from the 1930's to the 1950's from Florida to California. The one, in Holbrook, receives a lot of media attention due to it being located on Route 66 and located near several Native American Reservations, Navajo, Hopi, White Mountain Apache Reservations.  There are several vintage automobiles that are around the perimeter of the property.

Three of the Wigwam Villages remain open today; Cave City KY, Rialto CA and Holbrook AZ.

Holbrook is on the banks of the Little Colorado River in northeastern Arizona's high-plateau country, with the nearby Navajo and Hopi reservations offering distinctive attractions such as ceremonial dances and Indian arts and crafts.

Nearby are the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park, with petrified logs displaying an array of colors. To the north are canyons containing cliff dwellings, such as those found in Canyon de Chelly.

Don’t let the old cars pictured fool you they are still open for business.

The Wigwam Motel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 2002.

Location: 811 West Hopi Drive Holbrook, AZ 86025 • 928-524-3048

Website: http://www.sleepinawigwam.com/

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