Harvey House

The landmark is the eating house, but the job is the story. Fred Harvey advertised in eastern papers for young women eighteen to thirty, of good moral character, and the ones who answered signed a contract: room and board and tips, a dormitory with a matron and a curfew, and no marrying until the term ran out. They came west on a day's notice to towns they could not have found on a map. Many stayed on after the contract, married, and became the towns they had been sent to.

What the plaque says

Harvey Houses were legendary in the history of Western rail travel. Operated by Fred Harvey in conjunction with the Santa Fe Railway, the network of restaurant-hotels set a new standard in quality meal service. Barstow's Spanish-Moorish "Casa Del Desierto", opened in 1911 and closed in 1971. It was registered as one of the last and finest remaining examples of the West's famous Harvey Houses.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Barstow — steps away
  The Mojave's rail-and-road hinge, where the Santa Fe yards and Route 66 meet at the Casa del Desierto Harvey House.
• Calico Ghost Town — 9.6 mi
  An 1881 silver boomtown in the calico-colored hills, saved and rebuilt by the founder of Knott's Berry Farm.

More markers nearby

• Possum Trot — 8.0 mi
• Town of Calico — 9.5 mi
• Camp Cady (on the Mojave Road) — 24 mi