Historic Hotel Arnold Traditional Cache
Flutterwheelers: I'll never understand why people will steal caches. I'm done here.
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Benson's Hotel Arnold opened in 1909 and operated until the 1930s. It's listed as a State Historical Landmark. Primarily used by cowboys, railroad workers and tourists.
The owners are geocacher friendly and welcome geocachers onto the property. Please be respectful!
Benson’s Hotel Arnold is on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The railroad came to Benson in 1880. The hotel began construction in 1907, and placed into use in 1909. It served railroad employees and travelers until around 1930. Its name is derived from the original owner, Arnold A. McGinnis, a retired engineer. It was built in Colonial Revival Style, a popular style in Southwest Arizona at the time. During the 1930s, its then owner Matt Lee closed the building and it has been used as a storage facility until very recently.
New owners, Cindy Allen and Dan Ball (both ex-Marines) of Pomerene, have tackled the restoration of this wonderful old historic site. With no help from the preservation society, they are hopeful of reopening the building sometime in 2020. It won’t return as a hotel however, rather it will be part museum, antique shop and plant nursery. The owners have many original artifacts from the hotel purchased from an earlier auction.
We were graciously given a tour of the property by Cindy. We saw a massive project ahead, but they are doing their diligence to retain as much of the original parts of the building as is possible. We noted there was still original wavy glass panes in much of the building. During original construction redwood was brought in from California at the then extreme high cost of over $4,000. There are original transom style windows above each bedroom door, and some bedroom windows even have the original curtains from the 1930s! Look at the pictures of the hotel and in one you will see my partner couldn't even get all the way in sideways into one of the closets. Also you'll see the original Hotel Arnold sign yet to be restored.
True of many really old buildings, this one is not without ghost stories. Cindy related one story which included action by the local police. It seems that a disconnected telephone started ringing, a player piano started up and the police were somehow alerted and responded. When they arrived at the unoccupied building, nobody was in evidence, however one policeman saw a cat one second, then it was gone. The other policeman had seen a dog, however none was discovered. Cindy said she and her husband Dan have both seen ‘ghost cats’ since they have been working on the building!
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)