El Pueblo Motor Inn in Flagstaff goes up for sale for $2.7 million

El Pueblo Motor Inn, a classic Route 66 motel in Flagstaff, Arizona, best known as where Navajo Code Talkers were recruited during World War II, has been put on the market.

The asking price is $2.7 million. Jacquie Kellogg, who was brought in to help try to sell the property at 3120 E. Route 66 in 2018, told KTVK/KPHO in Phoenix that she hopes the future owner keeps the motel’s Code Talkers history in mind.

Kellogg learned about Philip Johnston, who built the motel, shortly after she began reseaching it.

“I just felt like more people should be aware of what they’ve done for our country,” Kellogg said. “I just wanted to save the motel.”

She learned that Johnston came up with the idea for the Navajo code talkers to use the Navajo language to create an unbreakable code for transmitting military messages. After Pearl Harbor, Johnston recruited the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers in Flagstaff on Route 66. […]

“Because the Navajo code was classified for 30 years, these men were never celebrated for what they did,” Kellogg said. “They literally helped us win World War II, and they weren’t allowed to talk about it.” […]

“I mean it’s it’s not Flagstaff history. It’s not Arizona history. It’s world history,” she said.

The Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff reported that Thurcor Inns LLC of Mesa, Arizona, owns the motel. It remains the city’s oldest motel outside the downtown area.

Kelly & Call Commercial in Flagstaff is listing the property. It’s 10,000 square feet on 1.56 acres. Four of the five original structures have been removed.

(Google Streetview excerpt of El Pueblo Motor Inn in Flagstaff, Arizona, circa 2022)