El Rancho Hotel

Theatre tycoon R. E. "Griff" Griffith, built this iconic landmark of the historic Route 66 highway in 1936. El Rancho Hotel quickly became the heart of the movie industry in New Mexico, whose alluring landscapes had already been attracting filmmakers. Here, numerous stars of the golden age of Hollywood, as well as movie directors and film crews, stayed during movie productions. These included John Wayne, Doris Day, Jane Fonda, Gregory Peck, Ronald Reagan, and Lucille Ball. In addition to offering high-quality service and amenities, the hotel features an idealized "picturesque western" design meant to evoke a "rusticated fantasy experience." El Rancho Hotel remains popular among tourists and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

R.E. Griffith, the brother of the well-known movie director D.W. Griffith, opened his first theater in Oklahoma in the 1920s. During the Great Depression, he stayed afloat thanks to the popularity of movies, which remained popular despite the struggling economy. Griffith bought or built theaters in Texas and New Mexico and had owned hundreds of them by the early 1930s. He visited New Mexico around this time and became enchanted by the landscape. He decided to build the El Rancho Hotel, hoping to attract filmmakers to Gallup and convince them to stay at the hotel. By then, his friends included the directors of MGM, Paramount, and 20th Century Fox, so it was probably not difficult to convince movie studios to come to Gallup.

The hotel is three stories tall and features a large portico built with ashlar stone and supported by five columns. A large Hotel El Rancho sign stands on the roof and lights up at night. Inside is an impressive lobby designed in a style that the National Park Service describes as "rusticated western grandeur mixed with the feel of a hunting lodge." Notable features include a criss-cross balcony marking the boundary of the second-story balcony, a large walk-in stone fireplace cove, and wooden staircases on each side of the fireplace.

"Backstory." Hotel El Rancho. Accessed October 23, 2023. https://elranchohotelgallup.com/backstory-learn-more.

"Historic Resources of Downtown Gallup: El Rancho Hotel." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. January 14, 1988. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/87002222.