Red Garter Inn
When we checked in, we got a history of the place and a two
page story of how the bordello/saloon/inn began. I will give you the Readers Digest version
of what it said.
“August Tetzlaff was a German merchant tailor who arrived in
Williams in 1895 with plans to open an aristocratic, two story bordello and
saloon. His yellow brick building was
constructed across from the Grand Canyon Railway station. He had dreams of making it rich from the
silver and copper mines found north of Williams and in the Grand Canyon.
The top floor had about 7 rooms, a parlor and the Madam’s
room which was located at the end of the stair’s landing. The only entrance was through the street’s
door and narrow stair leading upwards. The
two front rooms where larger and for the best gals. These women would hang out the windows in
order to lure men in. They got to pick
first and always took the business men and those who had more money. The rest of the women would take what was
left over and had to earn their right to move to the front rooms. (Humm, Deb and I stayed in the back room,
lol.)
The place was finished in October 1897 and Tetzlaff rented
the first floor to Michael Reneke for his saloon. This was a completely separate venue so
Tetzlaff added a cork subfloor to muffle the sound. Reneke added a couple of rooms in the back
for him and his family to live in. In 1901,
Williams was devastated by a huge fire which destroyed all the buildings on the
south and east end of the property. The
buildings were rebuilt out of brick to hold up like the Red Garter.
Times got tough and the silver mines were not
producing. Even though things looked
bad, the saloon and bordello persevered.
In 1920’s the saloon was closed because of Prohibition, the bottom floor
was leased to an Indian scout in his 80’s.
He and his fifth wife, who gave birth to his 25th child,
turned the place into a restaurant. Meanwhile,
the upper floor still served as a bordello and was enjoying the modern conveniences
such as plumbing, running water and tubs.
But with the increasing violence near the building, the sheriff shut it
down. Eventually, it became a place for
travelers along Route 66 to rest their weary bones.
The current owner bought the building in 1979 when it was
left abandoned and used as a warehouse.
In 1984 the bottom was remodeled into a restaurant, in 1994 three of the
rooms upstairs were remodeled, next was the coffee shop and bakery, the other
rooms, and a commercial kitchen.
Nowadays, the Red Garter and Café make the perfect combo for a wonderful
stay in Williams.”
https://www.redgarter.com/Grand Canyon Coffee & Cafe (a.k.a. Anna's)
http://www.grandcanyoncoffeeandcafe.com/
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