Along old Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona, fifteen white teepee-shaped motel rooms still stand around a gravel courtyard, surrounded by vintage automobiles and memories of the highway’s golden age.
The Wigwam Motel, officially Wigwam Village No. 6, opened in 1950. Chester Lewis brought the idea to Holbrook after seeing one of Frank Redford’s unusual Wigwam Villages in Kentucky. The buildings were designed to do exactly what successful roadside businesses did then: catch the eye of passing motorists and give them a reason to stop.
For decades, Route 66 brought travelers directly past the motel. Then Interstate 40 bypassed downtown Holbrook, and the old roadside economy changed almost overnight. The motel eventually closed, but the Lewis family later restored and reopened it.
Today, it remains one of only three surviving Wigwam Villages in the country and one of the most recognizable remnants of old Route 66.
The full story is about much more than a novelty motel. It is about the rise of automobile tourism, the businesses built around the old highways, and what happened when the Interstate system changed the way Americans traveled.
Read the full story: Wigwam Motel: Sleeping in a Piece of Route 66 History
