Grand Canyon National Park

by Thomas Alan Ratz

Overview

Arizona is proud to have one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World--the Grand Canyon. With the arrival of the Santa Fe and Union Pacific Railroad in the early 20th century, the development of the canyon began in earnest. The railroads, along with the Santa Fe's business partner, the Fred Harvey Company, greatly promoted the Grand Canyon as a tourist destination through books, pamphlets, and magazine advertisements. On February 26, 1919, Congress established the Grand Canyon National Park, and the federal government became a promoter of the Grand Canyon, too. But perhaps the best promoters of the Grand Canyon were the people who wrote home on picture postcards telling their friends and families about the amazing canyon. A number of the postcards published about the park can be found within the pages of this book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439624579
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	11/23/2009
Series:	Postcard History Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	52 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Thomas Alan Ratz has been a resident of Grand Canyon National Park for 29 years. He has collected hundreds of pieces of memorabilia, books, photographs, postcards, and menus. He has a great fondness for the history of the El Tovar Hotel and was a presenter at the hotel's centenary celebration in 2006. This volume includes more than 225 historic postcards from his personal collection.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 Historic Grand Canyon Village 9

2 The Hermit Road 39

3 Bright Angel Trail 61

4 Desert View Drive 77

5 The North Rim 99

6 The Colorado River 107

7 Grand Canyon Artists 113

8 Gateways to the Grand Canyon 121

Bibliography 127

Editorial Reviews

Title: Greetings from the Grand Canyon

Author: Betsy Bruner

Publisher: Arizona Daily Sun

Date: 1/10/10



Grand Canyon National Park is more than just one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World to Thomas Ratz, it is also his home.



"I have lived at Grand Canyon for 29 years, and worked at the El Tovar Hotel for nearly all that time," said Ratz, who is a waiter at the hotel.



Since the early 20th century when the completion of several transcontinental railroads made it possible for anyone with money to travel across the country, visitors have been drawn to the romance of the Grand Canyon.



Perhaps the best promoters of the wonders of the canyon have been these visitors who wrote home on picture postcards, telling their friends and families about the amazing canyon.



AN AVID COLLECTOR



Ratz, who was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., has been collecting these vintage postcards for about 20 years.



Early postcards of El Tovar were the first he collected.



"I found one once in an antique store and thought it was cool to see this place I was working in a postcard from the early part of the century," he recalled.



Soon, his private archive made him the source to go to when early images were needed for special displays at the Grand Canyon.



When his collection grew to more than 1,600 postcards, a friend suggested he contact Arcadia Publishing, a small publisher of local history, including a postcard history series.



"Once I signed the contract with Arcadia, I had three months to turn my collection into some sort of book," Ratz said. "One of the hardest parts was winnowing the images down to just what would fit in the book."



FITTING THE FORMAT



A fraction of his collection became the book, complete with historical vignettes he wrote for each image.



"The format of Arcadia books has 128 pages, two images per page max, which would mean not every card would be in the book," Ratz explained. "I arranged the book like a tour book; each chapter highlights a different part or aspect of the park."



Images in the book include a myriad of modes of travel to the Grand Canyon, including the arrival of horse-drawn coaches and the first automobiles.



"With automobiles it was now possible to complete longer trips faster and to take trips farther afield," Ratz says in his book.



POSTCARDS HOLD HISTORY



A few of the images are his favorites, including a remarkable photo on page 42 of the pool that was at the Grand Canyon Inn.



"The swimming pool that was along the edge of the Canyon at the Orphan Mine stands out," Ratz said.



Another photograph on page 11 looks east back at the hotel and shows two dramatic features on the right of the hotel.



"I particularly like the image of the two huge water storage tank near El Tovar Hotel," Ratz said. "I also like the view of the tourist cabins that were at the Rowe's Well site. All of these features are gone. The pool, the water tanks, and those cabins are now found only in these vintage postcards."

From the Publisher