Desert View Watchtower was named historic landmark in 1987

Desert View Watchtower

This week’s featured historical marker is the “Desert View Watchtower” marker that I encountered during a recent visit to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

This marker is located right outside the watchtower, just off the paved footpath leading up the tower’s entrance. The tower itself is located at Desert View Point on the South Rim of the canyon, about 20 miles from Grand Canyon Village. The tower is located just off Desert View Drive (or East Rim Drive or Highway 64).

What follows is the complete text from the marker.

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“DESERT VIEW WATCHTOWER has been designated a NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK. This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America – 1987 – National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior.

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Desert View Historical Marker



This watchtower is one of the coolest places you’ll visit at the Grand Canyon. It’s four stories tall and reaches a height of 70 feet and has a 30-foot base. Completed in 1932, this masonry tower provides sweeping views from this point on the canyon’s rim.

The lower level of the tower now contains a sizeable gift shop. Visitors gain access to the upper three floors by flights of narrow stairs that wind their way along the side of the tower. The second floor also consists of an outdoors observation deck that’s actually outside the tower.

Other facts about the tower include:

- The tower was designed by Mary Colter, an architect who worked for the Fred Harvey Co. She designed it to resemble old, prehistoric Native American watchtowers. Some say it was designed to mimic old Anasazi watchtowers.

- Hopi artist Fred Kabotie and Fred Greer were the artists who drew the murals and petroglyph drawings inside the tower. Kabotie also served for a time as the watchtower’s caretaker.

- The tower contains logs that were salvaged from the old Grandview Hotel on the Grand Canyon’s Horseshoe Mesa. The tower’s internal framework is made of steel and was designed by bridge builders who worked for the Sante Fe Railway.

- The very top of the tower is closed to visitors and is used as a base for radio equipment.

- The watchtower was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 3, 1995.

- Not only can you see the Grand Canyon from the tower, but you can also see the Painted Desert to the east, the San Francisco Peaks to the south and the Vermillion Cliffs. You can also see the Colorado River, the North Rim just 10 miles away and up to 100 miles away on a clear day.

- The tower is the highest point on the South Rim of the canyon.

- Although completed in 1932, the watchtower didn’t open to the public until May 1933.

In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about another historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me to feature, let me know in the comments section below.