Back in the mid 1920s, tourism was surging, and locals realized they desperately needed first class accommodations. So, in April 1926, everyday citizens and prominent figures like novelist Zane Grey pooled their money in a massive fundraising campaign. In just one month, they raised 200,000 dollars, which is roughly 3.5 million dollars today, to build this place themselves. Originally called the Community Hotel to honor the taxpayers who funded it, the property was renamed Monte Vista, meaning mountain view, by a 12 year old schoolgirl who won a local naming contest. The Monte Vista quickly became a beacon of local pride and frontier innovation. Right there in Room 105, Mary Costigan, the theater owner we met earlier, made history. In 1927, she became only the second woman in the entire world granted a commercial radio broadcasting license, moving her station here to send out a 100 watt signal for three hours every day. But a frontier settlement always casts a shadow, and the Monte Vista holds some deeply dark local lore. The most infamous story centers on Room 306. In the early 1940s, legend claims a man brought two women up to that room from Flagstaff's nearby red light district, which was an illicit neighborhood known for illegal brothels and saloons. The story goes that these two women were brutally murdered and thrown from the third story window to the street below. To this day, male guests staying in Room 306 frequently report waking up with the terrifying sensation of unseen hands covering their mouths and throats. Yet, paranormal investigators and historians point out a glaring issue with this grisly tale. A double murder of that magnitude would have been front page news, but absolutely no historical evidence corroborates the crime. It seems the hotel's close proximity to the red light district simply fueled a dark mythology that refuses to die.
Stop 5 of 10
