Stout's Hotel - Gila Bend, AZ - People-Named Places on Waymarking.com

Albert Stout was born in Tucson, Arizona Territory, in 1885. His father was a railroad engineer, located in Gila Bend. In addition to railroading his father established a cattle ranch in the Gila Bend area. Albert married Frankie Fogal of Tempe in 1906 and in 1907 the family moved to town where Albert acquired a good deal of property. He built an ice making plant and, between the railroad and the highway, a small hotel and market.

The hotel and market suffered a fire in 1926. Stout employed the architecture firm of Henry Trost to build a new hotel on the site. The main entrance to the building originally faced the railroad as it was the main source of travellers. The new building was reoriented to face the highway. The main floor included an ice cream parlor and shops as well as the hotel entrance. Abalone shell and coral chips were used in the floor and tiling giving the hotel the nickname "The Jewel in the Desert. The hotel remained in use until the railroad ceased operations in 1985. When Interstate 8 passed by the town, Gila Bend went into decline. The hotel building remains in a dilapidated state. The vacancy sign rings true.

http://genealogytrails.com/ariz/maricopa/bios.html https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/2013/12/02/stouts-hotel-a-place-of-the-past-with-a-future/ http://www.henrytrost.org/buildings/stouts-hotel/ http://www.echoesofthesouthwest.com/2012/08/historic-stouts-hotel.html

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