January 2019

yon railroad depot only 11 miles west of the Grand View Hotel
profoundly changed both hotel and mining operations. Increased
tourist traffic, lured by easy, comfortable transportation, led to
hotel expansion. The decreased cost and increased scale of copper
ore transportation could make mining more profitable, too.
Berry never applied for a post office at the Grand View Hotel.
Mail matters were conducted through a Post Office Box, 65
miles distant, in Williams, Arizona. Why mail was not conveyed
privately and conveniently by daily stage to Flagstaff defies easy
explanation. The only known example of Grand View Hotel mail
postmarked prior to establishment of the Grandview Post Office
is shown, front and back, in Figure 7.
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During the spring of 2017, Dick and I corresponded regularly
about possible locations for the Grand View Hotel. With few new leads our consensus
was a rim-side search north of the Summit Hotel location showed promise.
I followed a geological lead comparing the layers of Grand Canyon strata from a
historical photo of the Grand View Hotel to current satellite images. A small butte
1,200 feet north of the Summit Hotel seemed to match geologically. Ponderosa
trees were present and the outline of a rectangular structure was visible on satellite
images.
Meeting Dick and his wife at Grandview
Point Overlook, we headed as a group
to the remains of the Summit Hotel − the
only known location in the forest. We set
coordinates and headed toward the rectangular
structure on the rim edge, which
seemed further than expected because
we were blazing a new trail over uneven
ground. I was not encouraged, as any facility
the size of a hotel would require a road
that should still be evident in some form.
Heading further from the old wagon
road, hope faded as we approached the
rectangular form. The views of the Grand
Canyon were spectacular − a perfect location
for a hotel, we all agreed − but alas,
this was where the Grand View Hotel had
stood.
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In late 1902, the Last Chance Mine,
200 acres of surrounding properties
and the Grand View Hotel were sold to
eastern investors. Renamed the Canyon
Copper Company, the business would
be managed locally by two Vermonters,
John Page and Harry (H.H.) Smith. Both
arrived by train in Flagstaff on May 9,
1903. H.H. Smith would assume Grand
View Hotel management responsibilities,
Mr. Page the mining operations.
One of Smith’s tasks was submission
of Post Office Form 5-939, dated October
7, 1903 − an application to establish
the Grandview Post Office. Smith noted
Figure 6. The arrival in 1901 of a branch
line and this Grand Canyon depot just
11 miles from the Grand View Hotel
brought increased tourism and made
nearby mining more profitable.
Figure 7. This printed envelope advertising the Grand View Hotel was both submitted to the
post office at the other end of the branch rail line in Williams, Arizona, and delivered locally,
thus qualifying for the 1-cent drop mail rate.
JANUARY 2019 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 47