Hotel Monte Vista

Tourism increased in Arizona during the early 20th century, particularly because of the Grand Canyon, which became a national park in 1919. In the mid-1920s, the residents of Flagstaff collectively agreed that a new hotel should be built to accommodate the influx of tourists in the city, which is about 80 miles away from the park. There were hotels but they were outdated. The new hotel was initially called Community Hotel, but a young girl is credited with choosing Monte Vista as the name (it means "mountain view" in Spanish) in a contest. The Monte Vista opened on New Years Day, 1927.

There are a number of interesting aspects about the hotel. When it opened, it hosted a radio station run by Mary Costigan, who, in 1927, was the second woman in the world to be awarded a broadcasting license. She arrived in Flagstaff to help her brother, John Weatherford (builder of the Weatherford Hotel and the Opera House, which is now the Orpheum Theater), to run the Weatherford Hotel, which was built in 1900. She eventually became the manager of the hotel after John became ill. Soon after she acquired her radio license in 1927, she created a radio station (KFXY) in the back of the Opera House. Two years later she relocated to the station to the Monte Vista and hosted a three-hour show every day.

Another notable fact about the hotel is that it sits above a network of tunnels allegedly built by Chinese immigrants. The tunnels extend all the say to Northern Arizona University. Several buildings including the Monte Vista and the Weatherford Hotel are connected to the tunnels. It is believed that the Chinese immigrants, who were accused of starting a large fire in the early 1900s, built the tunnels to move around the city to avoid harassment. Today, the tunnels are used for storage and piping. However, many interesting items have been found in the large spaces of the tunnels that indicate the activities that occurred in them including opium dens, gambling, and moonshine distilleries. During prohibition, a newspaper publishing house was located in the hotel but it actually operated as a speakeasy and bootlegging operation. The police discovered and shut it down in 1931 but it did reopen in 1933 after prohibition ended.

Movie celebrities stayed in the hotel during the 1940s and 1950s when western films were popular and were filmed in Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon. A scene from the movie "Casablanca" was filmed in one of the hotel's rooms. When John Wayne stayed here in the late 1950s, he reportedly had a brief encounter with a friendly ghost. Over the years, many guests and staff have reported having paranormal experiences at the hotel.

"History of an Arizona Icon." Hotel Monte Vista. Accessed September 24, 2020. https://hotelmontevista.com/about.

Weiser, Kathy. "Haunted Monte Vista Hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona." Legends of America. Accessed September 24, 2020. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/az-montevista.