Grand Canyon National Park Historic District: South Rim. On September 17, 1901 the first steam-driven train rolled into Grand Canyon Village after a relatively smooth trip from Williams, Arizona. The 3-hour trip cost $3.95. What is now Grand Canyon Village was immediately more accessible than Hance Ranch or Grandview to the east and Bass Camp to the west. At the time an all day and rather rigorous stage ride to the village from Flagstaff, Arizona cost $20.00.

The Santa Fe Railway Depot was completed in 1909. It is one of only three remaining log depots in the country and one of an estimated fourteen log depots ever constructed in the United States. It was designed by Santa Barbara architect Francis Wilson. The timbers are unique for a log structure. The logs are squared on three sides giving a flat surface for adjacent logs and a flat interior wall. To prevent moisture from entering, the logs are sealed with building paper wrapped around wood strips seated in grooves between the logs. This was Wilson’s only log structure and was described in a newspaper article in 1909 as being “patterned after the El Tovar Hotel.”

Rooms on the first floor of the depot were designed to handle passengers and included a passenger waiting room, ticket office, luggage room, and restrooms. The second floor contained the apartment occupied by the station agent. It had a living room, kitchen, pantry, bathroom, and two bedrooms. NPS Photo by Michael Quinn.