Recent photo discoveries of the Safari Hotel

[TMUhlmann]

I knew these things had to be somewhere. I've never seen many of these photos before, but a visit to my stepmother up near ShowLow produced "volume one" of some wonderful old photos of the Safari. I plopped these onto a CanoScan and resized them with Photoshop Elements so I think they will post well on the site. It may be a lot of posts to get them on here, but I do not have a site to act as a server for the photos yet.

This first batch will be of the Safari when it opened in 1956 near the intersection of Camelback and Scottsdale roads. Look carefully and you can see Scottsdale Rd. at two-lane and four-lane status at the edge of the photos. The first post is Al Beadle's architect's rendition of the layout of the hotel.

[TMUhlmann]

Woo hoo! It works! Okay the next photos are exterior shots of the hotel's entry, grounds, etc.

[TMUhlmann]

Two photos of the entry to the original lobby.

[TMUhlmann]

Here are two photos of the interior of the lobby and front desk.

[TMUhlmann]

The rooms.

[TMUhlmann]

The restaurant and bar areas...

[TMUhlmann]

In these last photos there are two aerial views of the Hotel, but one additional picture is included for what's in the background. I've tried to keep individuals out of these photos as much as possible, but this is the best photo I could find of the rodeo grounds that preceded Fashion Square. I do not know who the lady in the picture is, but the other fellow is my father and I know he wouldn't mind.

[TMUhlmann]

Stay tuned for another posting the theme of which will be...

[PixelPixie]

SUPERMEGASWANK!!! Wow, that is all truly remarkable! It really gives you an idea of how much in the middle of nowhere this resort still was at the time. Great finds! Thank you so much for sharing!!!

[Photowrite2000]

The last photo showing part of Al Beadle's newsletter has a rendering of the property which looks like it may have been painted by my father, Dave Campbell, an architectural illustrator who often worked with Beadle on his projects. I may be able to find a photo of the rendering in my dad's archives. If I can, I'll try to send you a copy...

[TMUhlmann]

You're right on with your identification of that photo illustration. It became the hotel's most popular large postcard (see a copy of it under the topic " Safari Hotel Vintage postcards"). If you could read the signature at the bottom right corner placed on the asphalt of Scottsdale Road, you'd see "D CAMPBELL".

[TMUhlmann]

OK, these aren't so much "recent discoveries", but rather snapshots from an old Kodak camera that I took after the flood of, um, 1972 maybe? There were several floods during the late sixties to mid- seventies that were diverted down the north side of the Arizona canal and severely dampened the Safari, and closer to Indian School Rd. and 56th Street the homes of many members of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. So here we have the porte cochere and entrance to the lobby resplendent in the hotel's trademark pink and purple, and a nice look at the hotel sign touting "Lee Meza" as the entertainment in the French Quarter night club. This was when it was generally as the Safari Hotel, not the "Safari Resort".

[TMUhlmann]

Well finally I've come into possession of the next batch of photos of the Safari. What I did not expect is to find more pictures of the first phase of the hotel, that is the place as it was when opened in November, 1956. That's what I have here. There are a couple extra items of some interest (I hope) that I'll post, and explain in the lines below each.

Entrance with customary Lincoln Convertible.

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Another view of the property.

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This is a picture of the property before any construction commenced.

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[TMUhlmann]

Here are some more cool pictures of the rooms and how they were furnished.

A nice guest room.

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The twelve rooms leading off from the left side of the pool where complete with kitchenettes.

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The garden rooms with the kitchenettes could be connected by a door to form a suite.

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[TMUhlmann]

Assorted stuff.

This is a newspaper article which explains an earlier picture I have, but had no information as to what it was all about. The newspaper reports that my father met with Hans Einstein, son of physicist Albert Einstein, who was a hydrology engineer from California. The other fellow is Col. John Lowry of the Maricopa County Flood Control office.

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OMG an actual color photo.

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Posing on the beloved luggage trams...our family. Guess which one is me.

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