Fred Harvey hotels and restaurants

[Gary_Ash]

If you've made car trips in the Southwest, you might have stayed at the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It was one of the Fred Harvey hotels, the first chain of restaurants and hotels in the U.S., dating back to the railroad era and lasting until the 1960s.  Fred started putting restaurants in railroad stations in the 1870s and 1880s, later ran dining cars on the AT&SF railroad, and eventually built hotel along the railroad routes.  He hired thousands of age 20-30 unmarried women to staff the restaurants, kept them safe and well cared for.  His chain stretched from Chicago to San Francisco, was at its peak in the 1920s and 1930s.  The chain has been sold several times but there are still some remaining hotels in national parks and other places.  So, if you are planning a road trip, find a Fred Harvey hotel to stay at.

 

Here's Fred's story on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Harvey_(entrepreneur)

 

Here's a link to where you can buy the Harvey House Cookbook:

https://www.amazon.com/Harvey-House-Cookbook-Memories-Railroad/dp/1589793218

 

And here is a map of the Harvey locations in the 1920s:

[f.f.jones]

My fraternal grandmother was a Harvey girl in the late 1880's. Born during Lincoln's presidency, she left home in Pella, Iowa and began working for the Harvey chain in Kansas City. As I understand it, a Harvey employee could gain free or reduced railroad fares west after working a designated period of time at a Harvey House, moving down the line to another location. She worked her way to the San Joaquin Valley in central California, marrying in 1900 and giving birth to my uncle in 1901 and my father in 1907 at the age of 44, and lived to survive the Great Depression and WWII. Quite a lady in my book!

[wayne sheldon]

I love family stories that connect us to history! It makes history personal to us, and gives us solid connections to the world around us. I like telling such stories, and I like reading such stories.

Thank you f.f.jones