As a tourist, getting around the South Rim of the Grand Canyon these days is pretty darn easy. You have excellent roads to get to fantastic views and hikes. In the village, you don’t need a car because you can walk or take a frequent bus to more amazing places.Such was definitely not the case in the early 1900s - no Interstate highway system back then. For the (mostly) white Americans and Europeans who chose to make the journey, jarring, hardscrabble roads and trails were their manifest destiny.
The rugged travel modes of stagecoach and horseback was replaced around the turn of the 20 th century by the smooth luxury of railroad adventures. Shortly thereafter, the advent of the automobile increased the need for more facilities, roads and trails. But trains and automobiles could only bring the tourist to the edge of the canyon. To experience the totality of what the Grand Canyon has to offer, visitors still had to hike down (and back up) steep rocky trails or jump on a boat and navigate the rapids of the great Colorado River.
First Automobile in the Grand Canyon near Grandview Point - 1902
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Credit: Library of Congress LC-USZ62-7119
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone
In 1884-5, John Hance and William and Philip Hull built a wagon road from Flagstaff to Hance’s home next to Grandview Point. A hotel and tourist business was established, stagecoach service began, and Grandview was the most popular destination in the park until 1901. However, when the Santa Fe railroad refused to extend its rail line to Grandview, that area lost favor to the Grand Canyon Village and the El Tovar and Bright Angel Hotels.The first automobile in the park was a Toledo driven by Oliver Lippincott on February 5, 1902. An experienced automobilier and owner of Lippincott Art Photo in Los Angeles, Lippincott was also the first to drive an automobile into Yosemite National Park in June, 1900.
Metz Car El Tovar Point - 1914
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Credit: Photograph: Frederick L. Wing Grand Canyon Natoinal Park Museum GRCA 28788
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone 2023
The Metz Car was driven by Mr. L. Wing of the Metz Agency in Los Angeles. He drove this Metz 22 Speedster from Los Angeles, across mountain ranges, through blowing sands, navigating jagged lava, often without a road. The goal was to drive to the bottom of the Canyon, but first stop was the edge at El Tovar Point. Wing drove right to the edge and didn’t put on his breaks until the front wheels were right at the edge.
The next day, he drove to Peach Springs to the West and began his descent. The grade was as much as 25 to 30%, driving over deposits of debris and boulders, always attentive to clearance. He successfully completed his adventure, including his return to Los Angeles, without breaking a single part of the car.
Train Yard and El Tovar - c. 1915
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Credit: Not available
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
The first train from Williams to the South Rim was on September 17, 1901.At the behest of the U.S. Forest Service, the railway company partnered with the Fred Harvey Company to supply lodging and food. They built buildings, provided power and water and maintained all facilities.The railroad also contracted with ranchers to move stock, loggers to move lumber, and with the Orphan Mine to transport uranium in the fifties.
Fred Harvey Touring Cars on El Tovar Hill c. 1921
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Credit: Photograph: Fred Harvey Company Grand Canyon National Park Museum GRCA 03552
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
The Fred Harvey Touring Cars transported visitors in groups to different viewing spots along the rim, typically with guides narrating the tours. A public garage in visible in the background.
Navajo Bridge Dedication Celebration - 1929
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Credit: Library of Congress HAER ARIZ.3-PAG.V.2--44
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
The Colorado River was a huge barrier to travel. High cliffs and a dangerous river crossing led to unmitigated isolation in the Grand Canyon region. The ferry system in presend day Lees Ferry provided pioneers in their wagons a way to get across the river, but when wagon trains were replaced with automobiles, pressure mounted to build a bridge.Despite its remote location, for the dedication ceremony of the Navajo Bridge, 7,000 people and 1,217 automobiles came to celebrate. It is now one of only seven land crossings of the Colorado River for 750 miles.
Arriving in Luxury to the Railroad Depot - 1937
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Credit: Grand Canyon National Park Museum GRCA 00861
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
Early visitors to the Canyon arrived by wagon, stagecoach, or horse after a mind and body numbing ride from Flagstaff. Miners had to haul their ore to the mills the same way. As those mines began to pay off in the 1890s, investors sought to reduce the transportation costs.
The Santa Fe and Grand Canyon Railway began in 1897, running a line from the mainline at Williams to the Anita Mines south of the rim. When the Anita Mines didn’t prove their value, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company bought the line and extended it to the South Rim Village.
Canyon View Parking - 1948
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Credit: Photograph: J.M. Eden Grand Canyon National Park Museum GRCA 10560
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
Canyon View parking was located just west of the Bright Angel Lodge where the Hermit Road Interchange bus stop now sits. Row of autos show the lack of parking spaces.
Parking at El Tovar - 1951
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Credit: Photograph: NPS Photo by Dazey Grand Canyon National Park Museum GRCA 02110
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
In this view westward, automobiles crowd the space between Verkamps and the Hopi House and El Tovar Hotel. Today, parking is highly regulated and visitors are encouraged to use the shuttle bus system to get around the Grand Canyon Village and Hermit Road.
Railroad Depot Flash Flood - 1983
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Credit: Photograph: Michael Quinn Grand Canyon National Park Museum GRCA 10043A
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Credit: Photograph: NPS/Ted Barone - 2023
Flooding carved the Grand Canyon. For millions of years, spring snowmelt and monsoon rains pounded down upon the desert landscape, swelling the Colorado River and its tributaries, shaking loose huge boulders from their perches, scouring passageways through the rising plateaus. Prior to the building of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, the unregulated flows of the river ranged from a few hundred cubic feet per second (cfs) to 100,000 cfs. There is evidence that a mighty flood 1600 years ago exceeded 500,000 cfs and that flooding 1-2 million years ago exceeded 1 million cfs, roughly the average flow of the Mississippi River today.
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