El Pueblo Motel in Flagstaff may become Code Talkers museum

The historic El Pueblo Motel in Flagstaff, Arizona, may become a museum to Navajo Indians who served as Code Talkers during World War II.

A feature story in the Arizona Daily Sun newspaper about Route 66 revealed that bid. The motel at 3120 E. Historic Route 66 was built in 1937, making it the oldest such lodging establishment outside of Flagstaff’s historic downtown.

But the motel also played another key role in U.S. history — its owner, Philip Johnson, recruited Navajo to serve in the Marines as Code Talkers during the war. Many of the Navajo lived at the motel before they were shipped to the Pacific. Japanese soldiers were unable to decipher the Navajo’s native language, making them crucial to the U.S. war effort in passing along crucial coded information

The Code Talkers link to the motel may have proved to be its salvation. The newspaper reported:

In April of this year, local West USA Realty agent, , was approached by El Pueblo’s current owner shortly after Kellogg had facilitated sale of the Wonderland motel on the corner of Route 66 and Arrowhead Avenue.
After the sale, the Wonderland ended up being demolished, and Kellogg said she was determined to make sure the El Pueblo avoided the same fate. Instead, Kellogg is working to turn the motel into a museum and monument to the Code Talkers.
“I had no idea of the historical significance of our Route 66 hotels, ” Kellogg said. “Once I found out [the El Pueblo] was the original place of the Code Talkers, well, that stepped it up to a whole new level.”
Kellogg is listing the motel at $2 million, which covers only the cost of the building itself. Her goal is to crowdfund enough money to buy the structure and then donate it to a foundation who can run it as a museum.

Here’s a video by the Realtor for the property:

The El Pueblo Code Talker Project also has a Facebook page here.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s current Preserve Route 66 tour stopped by the motel a few days ago to help publicize the effort.

(Excerpted image of El Pueblo Motel in Flagstaff, Arizona, via Google Street View)