Holbrook's Wigwam Motel

Above, vintage vehicles parked at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While I was in Holbrook, Arizona yesterday, I drove around town looking for a supermarket to pick up a few things. While doing so, I came across an old relic of historic Route 66: the Wigwam Motel.

Above, the Wigwam Motel office. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

At one time, before the interstates were built, there was a chain of Wigwam Motels where guests can spend the night in a kitschy way. They aren't wigwams, but tee pees. I've read about them in the Roadside America website.

According to Wikipedia:

The Wigwam Motels, also known as the "Wigwam Villages," is a motel chain in the United States built during the 1930s and 1940s. The rooms are built in the form of tipis, mistakenly referred to as wigwams. 

It originally had seven different locations: two locations in Kentucky and one each in Alabama, Florida, Arizona, Louisiana, and California. 

They are very distinctive historic landmarks. Two of the three surviving motels are located on historic U.S. Route 66: in Holbrook, Arizona, and on the city boundary between Rialto and San Bernardino, California. All three of the surviving motels are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Wigwam Motel in Cave City, Kentucky, was listed in 1988 under the official designation of Wigwam Village #2; the Wigwam Motel in Arizona was listed as Wigwam Village #6 in 2002; and the Wigwam Motel in California was listed in 2012 as Wigwam Village #7.

Above, one tee pee being cleaned. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I stopped to take a few photos. The Wigwam Motel is still in use and along with the tee pees, there are vintages vehicles parked around the property. I have seen so many 1950s cars since I was in Cuba two months ago.

Above, an old car in front of the office. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Fortunately for me, there was a Safeway market across the street from the Wigwam Motel.