In the decade from 1910 to 1920, automobile
ownership in America went from 10,000 to 8,000,000
vehicles. As a consequence, the motoring public
wanted good roads suitable for four wheels rather
than four hoofs. Cities and towns wanted easier
access to markets for their produce and livestock.
The automobile also made a new industry
possible?tourism.
How to pay for new and improved roads became a
source of political debate. In a natural
progression, the counties turned to the states and
the states turned to the federal government for
help. In 1916, Congress passed the Federal Aid Road
Act providing funding for rural post roads and
national forest roads.
This is when Grace
Sparkes enters the story. She was
the 23-year-old secretary of the Yavapai Chamber of
Commerce in Prescott. She recognized that the key to
promoting business and tourism was good roads
connecting the major urban areas of Arizona.
According to Elisabeth Ruffner, founder of the
Yavapai Heritage Foundation and a friend of Graces
Sparkes, she lobbied the powers-that-be to build a
road through the Prescott National Forest.
In 1921 when funds became available to complete the
improvement of the road to Phoenix, it was the
existence of this 16-mile section, called the White
Spar, that tipped the balance in favor of this route
over its competition. Overall the project shortened
the distance from from Phoenix by 26 miles.
When the map of federal interstate highways was
approved in 1926, the road from Phoenix to
Wickenburg to Prescott became part of US Route 89.
Click here to download and view A
Brief History of US Route 89 in pdf format.
The design of the hotel recognized
the growing
importance of automobile travel. The motorists
arrived under an elegant porte cochere, and walked
to the lobby down a covered passageway.
