Apache Motel - Moab, UT - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The hotel opened its doors in 1955 and was one of the first motels built in Moab. It made it to the National Register of Historic Places largely due to its connection to Hollywood and a booming population of uranium prospectors, but also because of its unique architecture in the Atomic Era.

Actor John Wayne -- an icon of films in the 1950s and ‘60s -- played a major role in making the motel eligible for the prestigious listing, just as he played major roles in Westerns and military movies of that era.

The certificate of eligibility for nomination states that the motel has the best historic integrity of the early motels built during the “period of significance from 1954 to 1958,” despite minor alterations to the roof line and some exterior and interior modifications, and that the rooms have not changed much since the 1950s.

The document classifies the 33-unit brick structure as a “Victorian eclectic, bungalow” style, from the late-19th and early-20th century Modern American movements, and describes the architecture as representative of “the transition between the pre-1950s motor courts and the emergence of the motor inn in the 1950s.”

When John Wayne came to town in 1950 for filming of Rio Grande, with actress Maureen O’Hara, the local newspaper reported that cast and crew “completely took over Moab’s one motel and three auto-tourist camps,” while others stayed in private homes or a tent city, according to researcher Korral Brochinsky.

Mostly film crews have stayed at the Apache since the days of John Wayne, like the crew of Thelma and Louise, who filled the motel for weeks in the peak of summer in 1991.

Street address: 166 S. 400 East Moab, UT County / Borough / Parish: Grand County Year listed: 2008 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event Periods of significance: 1950-1974 Historic function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic Current function: Domestic Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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