 |
| Mary Colter 1869-1958 |
Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter was an architect and designer, one of the very few female architects in her day. She was also the chief architectural designer and interior decorator for the Fred Harvey Company from 1902 to 1948 and designed a number of buildings for the Santa Fe Railroad, notably in Grand Canyon National Park.
Born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, her family moved to Colorado and Texas before settling down in St. Paul, Minnesota when she was 11 years old. She was clear about her desire to be an artist and was heavily influenced by Native American art from the large Sioux community that lived in the area. At fourteen, she graduated from high school and, after the death of her father in 1886, Colter left to study art and design at the California School of Design (now the San Francisco Art Institute) during which time she apprenticed at a local architectural firm to help fund her studies.
In 1901, Minnie Harvey Huckel helped Colter land a summer job as an interior designer with her family's Fred Harvey Company (operator of the famous railstop Harvey House restaurants) for the Indian Building at the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque (sadly, since demolished).
 |
| Mary Colter Alvarado Hotel Albuquerque, New Mexico 1901 |
Colter began to work full-time for the company in 1910, moving from interior designer to architect and for the next 38 years, Colter served as chief architect and decorator for the Fred Harvey Company. As one of the country's few female architects – and arguably the most outstanding – Colter worked in often rugged conditions to complete 21 landmark hotels, commercial lodges, and public spaces for the Fred Harvey Company, by then being run by the founder's sons.
As the West became more accessible, Native American craftspeople were successfully selling their arts and crafts at railroad stops. Seeing an opportunity to expand their business, the Harvey company commissioned Colter to design the Hopi House, a dedicated marketplace for Native American arts and crafts next to the El Tovar Hotel on the South Rim, creating a building that would fit into the natural setting and reflect the region's history.
 |
| Mary Colter Hopi House Grand Canyon, Arizona ca 1905 |
 |
| Mary Colter Desert View Watchtower Grand Canyon, Arizona ca 1932 |
Colter produced commercial architecture with striking décor, floorplans with flow calculated for a good user experience and a playful sense of the dramatic.
 |
| Mary Colter Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon Floor, Arizona ca 1932 |
 |
| Mary Colter Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon Floor, Arizona ca 1932 As per Colter’s approach to design, the site dictated the materials: rocks and boulders from the area were gathered and used in the creation of the buildings. Everything else—quite literally, from doors to windows and everything in between—had to be hauled down by mule. Cleeland says nothing could be longer than the length of a mule because of the trail’s tight turns and switchbacks. She adds that upon close inspection of the Phantom Ranch buildings, one can identify where rafters and beams were spliced together. “The remoteness of [this project] necessitated an attention to material and resource efficiency that anticipated today’s sustainable approach to materials in design and construction,” Construction History notes. |
 |
| Mary Colter La Posada Hotel Winslow, Arizona Route 66 ca 1930 |
 |
| Mary Colter La Posada Hotel Harvey Girls Reunion Winslow, Arizona Route 66 ca 1930 |
Mary Colter declared that the 1930 La Posada Hotel was her masterpiece. She was architect and designer for the entire resort from the buildings, acres of gardens, the furniture, china, even the uniforms worn by the maids. The Spanish Colonial Revival building in Winslow, Arizona has been called "the last great railroad hotel built in America." The hotel closed in 1957, cusing Colter to remark, "There is such a thing as living too long." After being used and as office building for the Santa Fe Railroad in the 1960, it stood empty until it was bought by Allen Affeidt and his wife Tina Mion who refurbished and reopened it on its original location on Rout 66. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Shortly before her retirement, Colter took on the renovation of the Painted Desert Inn located in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park. The 1922 inn had been renovated by the Civilian Conservation Corps workers to the Mission Revival style using local materials and Native American Southwestern motifs. Mary Colter supervised bringing in a new color scheme and commissioned Hopi artist Fred Kabotie to add murals to the dining areas. She had plate glass window installed to modernize and allow views of the gorgeous scenery. The inn was slated to be demolished in 1963 however, it survived and was placed on the National Register of Historic places in 1987. Restored to the way it appeared in 1949 after Colter's redesign, it serves as a museum today.
 |
| Mary Colter Painted Desert Inn Petrified Forest National Park Northwestern Arizona Photo by Kathy Alexander ca 1949 |
Mary Colter worked with Pueblo Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Mission Revival architecture, Streamline Moderne, American Craftsman, and Arts and Crafts Movement styles, often synthesizing several together evocatively. Colter's work is credited with inspiring the Pueblo Deco style.
In 1987, the Mary Jane Colter Buildings, as a group, were listed as a National Historic Landmark.For more info about this wildly creative and remarkable artist and designer, visit:
Sources___________________________________________________________
Legends of America, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mary-colter/, retrieved October 21, 2023
National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/articles/marycolter.htm, retrieved October 21, 2023
On the Corner of History: La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona, https://passionpassport.com/on-the-corner-of-history-la-posada-hotel-in-winslow-az/, retrieved October 21, 2023
Arizona Women's Hall of Fame, https://www.azwhf.org/copy-of-vernell-myers-coleman-1, retrieved October 21, 2023
AFAR, Alex Pulaski, June 14, 2022, https://www.afar.com/magazine/grand-canyon-architect-mary-colter-buildings, retrieved October 21, 2023
Smithsonian Magazine, Zachary Petit, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-grand-canyons-phantom-ranch-turns-100-this-year-180980602/, retrieved October 21, 2023
