Constructed 1898
The legendary Hotel Castaneda, a former hotel built by Fred Harvey for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad is primed for restoration after a long period of inactivity. The hotel’s architects were Frederick Roehrig and A. Reinsch. The hotel is the oldest Mission-Revival Style building in the state of New Mexico, opening for business on January 1, 1899.
Though the hotel has been closed since 1948, it is owned by developer Allan Affeldt and partners who bought the historic hotel in Spring 2014. Affeldt had already bought, refurbished and opened the historic Harvey House hotel La Posada in Winslow, AZ. The Castaneda Hotel was host to the First Rough Riders Reunion in 1899, where a large crowd gathered around the hotel to welcome New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt and his veterans to a wild three day reunion of parades and one of the first rodeos in the West. The Governors of New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado were also in attendance. Later, the Castaneda was filmed in early Tom Mix western movies. The famed Harvey House hospitality welcomed visitors until WWII but shortly thereafter the hotel declined. The Castaneda was the first railroad building in New Mexico to be built in the Santa Fe Railroad’s signature California Mission Revival style.
Historic tours of portions of the hotel are available from SouthwestDetours, to set up a tour, call 505-459-6987 or e-mail tours@southwestdetours.com.
photos by Anna Blyth and Elmo Baca
