Woman of the Week – Mary Jane Colter

Mary Jane Colter was one of few female architects in her day and made herself known through many notable projects like the Santa Fe Railroad in Grand Canyon Park. Her vision helped create a style of building that blended Spanish Colonial Revival with Native American motifs.

Colter was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1869. Her family moved from Pennsylvania to Colorado and then Texas before settling in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her family settled there when she was 11, and she considered it her hometown. In 1880, the town was growing and had a large population of Sioux Indians.

She was surrounded by Sioux art and style and began to take an interest in it. At one point, the Native American population was overcome with a scourge of smallpox. Her mother tried to burn all Mary’s artifacts out of fear that the germs would spread and get the family sick. She was able to hide the items from her mother and kept them for the rest of her life.

She graduated from high school early at age 14 in 1883. She took some time in between high school and college to care for her father, who died in 1886. She then attended the California School of Design (now the San Francisco Art Institute) and graduated in 1910, and apprenticed with a local architectural firm. She learned a new California style of architecture patterned after the early California missions.

She then moved back to St. Paul and taught art, drafting and architecture for a few years. Her first design commission came about by luck. She met the daughter of the founder of the Fred Harvey Company, and after a conversation, Harvey hired her to decorate the new Indian Building at the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque.

This was the start of what would become a 46-year working relationship with Harvey. He owned restaurants, hotels and shops along the Santa Fe Railroad. Colter used her love for Native American style to influence her design in many of Harvey’s spaces. She employed artisans to bring her visions to life.

She helped create a down-to-earth style that made the spaces popular for travelers looking for a space that felt relaxing but charming.

Colter created a series of remarkable works in the Grand Canyon National Park, mostly on the South Rim: the 1905 Hopi House, the 1914 Hermit's Rest and observatory Lookout Studio, and the 1932 Desert View Watchtower, a 70-foot-tall (21 m) rock tower with a hidden steel structure.

In 1987, the buildings were grouped under the Mary Jane Colter Buildings and incorporated as a National Historic Landmark.