Between hikes and various adventures at the Canyon, I've been noticing the buildings clinging to the rim. I wondered about the stories lurking behind the hotels at the village, and the east rim drive's Desert Watchtower. But it was semi-remote Hermit's Rest that first peaked my interest.
I kept ending up there, after hiking to Dripping Springs, after a westerly run along the Rim Trail, and even a recent round-trip bike ride along the Hermit's Rest Road. Hermit's became a familiar oasis, and I picked up snippets of history while filling my water bottles.
I was intrigued to learn that the architect of Hermit's Rest, and indeed of nine out of ten structures on the south rim, where designed by a woman. And an opinionated, cantankerous, driven sort of woman as well. Well, nothing wrong with that.
Mary Jane Colter, an architect in the employ of the tourist-oriented Fred Harvey Company, was meticulous and exacting on the construction site.
Colter insisted on styles and materials appropriate to their surroundings, to the point of being a nuisance. She would force workers to tear down entire walls when she saw a stone she didn't like, and make them start over fresh. She wore indian rings on every finger, could handle a pistol, and often snuck away from the construction commotion to chain smoke. She never married (an odd choice in those days).
In rough pants, sturdy shoes and a "disreputable Stetson" hat, she rode horseback into isolated regions to explore, sketch and capture the sense of place that emerged in her architecture.
The Life of an Opinionated Woman
Born in Pennslyvania in 1869, Colter made her place in a man's world by attending the California School of Design, with the intent to become an architect.
Colter followed the distinctive new style of American architecture championed best by Frank Lloyd Wright.
This new architectural school believed buildings should grow organically from the landscape. Colter's creations incorporate both elements from the landscape at hand and Native American building methods. She designed six major works at the Grand Canyon for Harvey, including Phantom Ranch, Lookout Studio, Hopi House and the Desert Watchtower.
Colter was eventually placed in charge of the design and decoration of Harvey's hotels, restaurants and Union Station facilities throughout the west. It was quite unusual at this time for a woman to be in a position of such broad-spanning authority and power.
Eleven of Colter's works are listed on the National Historic Register today. Quite a feat for a female in the early 1900s!
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