The Mayhew Lodge opened in 1926… and closed its doors in 1968 after the land & building was purchased by the U.S. Forest Service for historical purposes. Unfortunately, the building burned down in 1980.
The Images displayed here are direct links to the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Az. To see all Cline Library ‘Mayhew Lodge’ images, Please click this link: Cline Library Special Archive, Mayhew Lodge, Oak Creek.
1966 Mayhew Lodge Brochure – Front Page.
Image courtesy of: Northern Arizona University, Cline Library,
Collection: Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce
Item #124142
1966 Mayhew Lodge Brochure – Back Page.
Image courtesy of: Northern Arizona University, Cline Library,
Collection: Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce
Item #124143
1925 picture, Oak Creek Lodge, Oak Creek, Arizona. [Mayhew Lodge]
Image courtesy of: Northern Arizona University, Cline Library,
Collection: Greening, Jack (Grand Canyon Pioneers Historical Society, Inc.)
Item #853
1915 Picture, Lodge on Oak Creek, with ca. 1915 vehicles parked in front.
Image courtesy of: Northern Arizona University, Cline Library,
Collection: Greenlaw.
Item # 3814
I think it was in the pool at the Call of the Canyon Lodge that I learned to
swim in 1953. Wonder if that was the pool at the Mayhew lodge. Do you know of
any photos of their pool? I’ll never forget the image of being in that pool. Was so
shallow on one end! Seemed like built about 20’s. A big rectangle pool. My mother
loved Sedona, and this was my first vacation. Would love to see an old photo!
Thanks!
Liz
Liz, I wish I could be of more help… I have no knowledge of any pool – but I wish I did! Like your family, my family has loved Sedona for the last 30 years. We have vacationed in Sedona as just my wife and I… as family with our kids… and even a couple of times as a full family with other families from our Church in Michigan. Here is a link to the Northern Arizona University Cline Collection of photographs – my total source of pictures used (with their permission) in this post.
http://archive.library.nau.edu/cdm/search/searchterm/Mayhew%20Lodge/field/all/mode/exact/conn/and/display/50/order/nosort/ad/asc
I do hope you have luck for your search for a pool picture… Best Wishes, Jim LaPeer
It literally says they have a pool in the old brochure pictured above.
Yes, the brochure does say that. Not much more, tho…
The pool Liz refers to was at Call of the Canyon and is now under the parking lot. The pool at Mayhew’s is still there… built against the side of the Canyon wall and completely overgrown and concealed. I have swam in both.
Could it be the box canyons. My mother used to tell me stories of going on the trails and swimming in the box canyons
Liz…the large rectangular pool was at Call of the Canyon. It was filled in with the debris of the buildings that comprised Call of the Canyon and is now under the parking lot for West Fork trailhead. The pool at Mayhew’s is actually still there, altho very much a ruin. It was built against the side of the Canyon wall. It is oval, deep and was very cold as it was filled creek water. I swam in both of them.
Casey Kent
I have just learned that my great-uncle and aunt lived at Oak Creek until he died in 1962. The death certificate lists his home as Call of the Canyon Lodge. Would that be the same as Mayhew’s?
Hello, Tamara.
I think have heard that term used to describe Mayhew Lodge… but I cannot confirm that is correct. My guess is that it is one and the same… I did a quick Google, and this came up:
http://theproperfunction.com/oak-creek-canyon/
Hope that helps!
Jim
No…Call of the Canyon is a different location…it is under the parking lot at the West Fork trailhead. I have pictures….and grew up there.
No…Call of the Canyon was north of Mayhew’s. It is where the trailhead parking lot is. Who was your uncle? I grew up at Call of the Canyon.
My mother and father spent their honeymoon there in 1947. We continued to go there in the late 50’s for their Thanksgiving dinners. Reservations were required while they shuffled in 3 or 4 large groups during the day for dinner. You had a time limit to finish up but gave you time after to wander the premises and walk off your dinner. As a kid I had the creek to get into, wander in their apple orchard or explore up the creek or down the west fork. The main lodge consisted of a large fireplace but what I found cool was that they had allowed a tree or vine to grow throughout the house entering rooms and exiting into other rooms. Main lodge was built of stone and I remember a little storage room of the main house they used as a cold storage. They some how had a little stream of cold water running through the floor keeping their apples and other items cold. This place was a fantasy for kids. Not much is left to see today. Foundations may still be present but nothing that resembles its past. A part of Arizona history that only remains in pictures. Gone but not forgotten.
Ric, Thank You for your memories and observations. Since posting this blog entry several years ago we have come to learn that it is indeed, ‘magical’ for many people with experiences such as yours. Your 1st-hand descriptions of the Lodge are just… superb! Again, Thank You!
I remember The Lodge well, my Great Grandfather, Mike Gaddis owned one of the first water companies in Arizona, and a ranch I believe that was called Red Rock Crossing and the Chipmunk carving near Slide Rock was done by my father Don Gaddis and his friend Bill Dye from Williams, when they were kids!!
P.S. My family settled in the Oak Creek area around 1880, part of an early pioneer wagon train from Missouri. I’ve heard the large bear in the original lodge was killed by one of my relatives (not sure on that fact). I would love
any info, I think my uncle Tack Gaddis (not his given name, Henry Folkner Gaddis nicknamed Tack because he could stick a cutting horse on a dime)
is another almost forgotten early pioneer who was pretty humble and quiet.
Spent the summers from ‘53 on just down the creek from the lodge-remember the dinner bell every evening and the juniper smoke when evenings were getting chilly. Also remember chasing the Wolshlagel(sp) sisters (Heather’s mom and aunts) when they would walk down to the old(and deserted)Thomas/Pendley apple orchard south of the lodge. Didn’t see much of the sisters at Slide Rock or the skating rink at Indian Gardens; maybe they were working at the lodge. As best I can remember the sisters were Kay Sue, Sherry but don’t recall the youngest. Ahhh, the good old days, gone but not forgotten.
Thank you, Scott, for your memories! I can’t think of a better place for a teenager to spend Summers… You were a lucky person. Feel free to share more. I have taken my family there since the kids were young… all grown now, so just my wife and I go when we can. Take care, Jim
As a child when in Oak Creek,I often played at the lodge when it was open.This was in the years around 1949-52.
My mother, father, and I often traveled between Flagstaff, Cottonwood, and Prescott. Many photos were taken, but sadly lost in the years between then and now. My memories are good however, and were further strengthened when I worked as a ranger for the Sedona ranger district in 1974, 1975 and the beginning of 1976.
I would love to see Heather’s photos.
In 1970 I was a student at NAU and remember this house well. You had to drive through water (Oak Creek) to get to it or walk across the foot bridge. The first time I went into it through an unlocked window, it was completely intact and not damaged. It was stunning. As I remember a live tree was growing up through the house. There was a room that could only be accessed by walking out on the 2nd floor balcony and entered only from the outside (on the right side of the pictures above). I entered this room one time and all 4 walls and the ceiling were covered with green leaves from the tree I assumed, maybe from a vine. The stairway banister was made out of Manzanita which is red in color. It was heart breaking to see the damage that was done to the house as a result of vandalism every time we walked by it to hike West Fork. I’ll never forget this place!
Thanks, Bill, for sharing your memories of this fascinating place. My wife and I found it somehow to be… just peaceful, and full of memories that we did not know… but could somehow imagine. That is why we undertook to get permission from NAU to link to their Cline Library picture archives… and perhaps put some images to those imagined memories.
Jim
Is this Bill F.? If so, I think someone had a bottle of wine with them that evening. The lodge was impressive, but I’m surprised your memory is so sharp..
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My wife and I worked for RRM for 5 yrs. and lived at the Call Of The Canyon trail head in summer and Crescent Moon ranch in winter.I use to take my little dog for a walk everyday in and around the Mayhew lodge.I have seen all the ruins and can only wonder what it was like,now seeing the picture helps thanks.
I am the great granddaughter of Carl and Ethel Mayhew. I am in the process of building a website in dedication to the Family. I have pictures and other information about the lodge if you are interested.
Hello Heather – I live in Murrieta, CA.. My parents lived in Sedona for 30 years and I was fascinated by the ruins of the lodge every time we’d hike West Fork Trail. Always tried to imagine what it must have looked like. Seeing the fireplace I imagined people gathered around it on a cold winter’s night. This is the first time I’ve seen photos of the Lodge before it was in ruins. I would love to see photos of what the interior looked like if you have them, or any others not shown here. Did you or your parents visit the Lodge? What a wonderful family history you have. Best regards,
I would be most interested in your website! We spent two nights of our honeymoon 1953 at the Lodge…the north 2nd floor bedroom that was accessed from exterior stairs. There were vines working their way through the cracks in the log chinking! Absolutely lovely and a quite delightful stay. We thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent meals too! Each time we got up from the table, we were sure we could never have room for another morsel but where there for the next meal. Walked up West Fork a piece…beautiful ferns, fingerling trout, beautiful trees..so refreshing. Hated to leave but wanted to also visit the Painted Desert, Sunset Crater, Springerville (we had already been to the Grand Canyon) and needed to head home to go to work! SOOO wish we could have found the time to return but never did. This last weekend, went with a couple of our kids and walked back to the ruins…could not help crying for the ‘lost and gone’…both the Lodge and my husband. So very little left to mark where this ‘memory’ once stood.
Betty
I remember the lodge from the mid 1970s when I was in High School. My son and I hike West Fork every year when we visit.
Have you developed the website? I would be very interested. We will be there in two weeks.
Thank you
David
Hello Heather,
I would love to see your photos of the lodge. Every time I hike west fork I sit by the the foot bridge at the creek.
Thank you.
Robert
Hi…I knew Ethel, Lefty and Betty. Sally used to babysit my sisters and I. I have Ethel’s lasagne pan…lol…and use it still for my lasagne…using her recipe.
I’m the great great granddaughter of Ethel Mayhew. I would absolutely love to see if you’d be willing to part with that lasagna pan or recipe. I just visited the lodge this past week and it would just warm my heart. Kindness regards.
Heather,
I just found this post from several years ago. Is your website for the Mayhew Lodge available? I am a descendent of the Thomas and Pendley clan from Oak Creek. Lou Thomas homesteaded the property before the Mayhews bought it. I would love to see photos, if possible.
I was in this building in the early 1970’s. (Crawled thru an open window up to the 2nd floor) Had a good look at the interior. It was in pretty good shape and I had grand dreams of turning it into a hostel someday. So sad that a transient destroyed it.
Yes, that would be sad. Betsy. I find the lodge a fascinating fact… and I can imagine the the thoughts of the people that stayed there over time.
One can only wonder… if the scenery around there influenced Walt Disney in some way… that in his animated movies like ‘Bambi” that scenery shows up somehow.
Thanks for commenting, Betsy.
Jim LaPeer
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