Historic hotel in Seligman receives grant

A group that wants to turn the century-old Cottage Hotel in Seligman, Ariz., into a visitors center and museum received a $9,000 grant from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, according to The Associated Press and a news release from the agency.

The Seligman Historical Society will use the grant to survey the property for potentially harmful asbestos and lead paint.

The group wants to renovate the hotel to display artifacts from Seligman residents, the Santa Fe railroad, and historic Route 66 before turning the hotel into a full-time visitors center and museum.

Department of Environmental Quality director Henry Darwin said:

“The Cottage Hotel was a key part of Seligman’s Route 66 history and this project will help provide an additional boost to tourism while improving the environmental quality of the community.”

The Cottage Hotel, built in 1912 at 22460 W. Schoney, sits a block north of Route 66 in the middle of town. Finding it on Google Maps is a bit wonky, but it’s almost directly behind the historic and well-maintained Supai Motel on Route 66.

According to the Historical Society, it was built as a rooming house for railway workers and cowboys and later used as a birthing place for expectant mothers. The hotel remains one of the city’s oldest buildings and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Historical Society also has run a “buy a brick” fundraiser for the hotel for $50 or $75. The last few times we were in town, we noticed that prominent Route 66 advocate Angel Delgadillo has promoted the project at his barbershop and gift shop.

Finally, the Cottage Hotel looks a bit ragged from the photo above. However, it was repainted in recent years, as this Google Street View photo shows:


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(Image of the Cottage Hotel in 2010 by Pete Zarria via Flickr)

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