El Tovar Hotel

When El Tovar opened on the rim in 1905, it brought railroad-hotel luxury to the edge of the wilderness. Built for the Santa Fe Railway and run by the Fred Harvey Company, the hotel rose from Oregon pine and local Kaibab limestone at a then-startling cost, offering fine dining and comfort where a few years earlier there had been only tents and dust. It took its name from Pedro de Tovar, a soldier of the Coronado expedition that reached the Hopi mesas in 1540. More than a century on, El Tovar still lodges guests above the canyon.

What the plaque says

El Tovar Hotel. Begun 1903, Completed 1905. Named for Don Pedro de Tovar, the first European to visit the Hopi Indian villages in 1540, the hotel was constructed by Hopi Indian craftsmen at a cost of $250,000 employing logs shipped by train from Oregon and native Kaibab Limestone. The El Tovar Hotel has been host to thousands of visitors since its dedication in 1905 and is operated by the National Parks Division of Fred Harvey, Inc. The El Tovar Hotel has been listed in the Historical Registry of the United States since September 6, 1974.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Grand Canyon (South Rim) — 0.5 mi
  A mile down through two billion years — and eleven nations' ground

More markers nearby

• Hopi House — steps away
• Grand Canyon Village — steps away
• Grand Canyon Depot — steps away
• Verkamp's Curios Store — steps away