Route 66 in the News
Help Save the Havasu
2005-12-25 16:17:31
When the Santa Fe Railroad built the Seligman Harvey House, ca. 1890, the company christened it Havasu. The name furthered Fred Harvey's developing tradition, part of his grand vision of fine dining for the newly opened Western United States.
Harvey was not only a great marketer but also a gracious host and restauranteur. The Havasu, like La Posada in Winslow; El Tovar at the Grand Canyon; and the Fray Marcos in Williams and Escalante in Ash Fork--both now razed--offered a comfortable destination for those eager to explore the rugged West. Even as a stopover it gave real relief from sleeping on trains and consuming the stale coffee and rancid bacon typically offered railside.
In addition to the railroad's ticket office, the Havasu sported a reading room, a large, curving lunch counter, a bar, a restaurant and 50+ well-appointed rooms for staff and travelers, plus a doctor's office and the only telephone for miles around. For truly fine dining, Harvey brought in fresh, natural produce from the nearby Del Rio ranch, preparing it in the grand European manner. The now famous Harvey Girls served from the extensive menu on delicate china, with sterling silverware, Irish linen, and flowers from the Havasu's garden.
The Havasu is still a grand building but it's crumbling, the timber and half-timber details of its Prairie-style facade yielding to sun and wind; windows are boarded, and the red tile roof leaks here and there. The huge building is slated for demolition--not today, but in some unspecified tomorrow. That gives us a chance to save it.
The best idea seems to be to get a commercial appraisal for the land alone and then make an offer to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, who inherited it from the old Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe. That will allow us to work for grants to restore the property.
If you would like to help preserve and restore this handsome bit of history, with its ties to the heyday of the railroad and to what is now the last of America's once-Wild West, please send donations to the Seligman Historical Society, a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization. Mark your donation, "Havasu."
The mailing address is: Seligman Historical Society, P. O. Box 51, Seligman, AZ 86337.
A related blog has been established at http://seligmanharveyhouse.blogspot.com/
~Mary Clurman, Friends of the Havasu
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