Hill Top Motel - Kingman, AZ

Postcards from the Past


	Postcards are a relatively inexpensive way that many tourists document their travels, or let others in on a bit of what they have experienced. Older postcards of our motel and other items come up for sale from time to time. We attempt to acquire notable examples when they are available. The images displayed are from our collection at the motel. There are over a dozen different cards. These range from artist's renditions of the motel to actual photographs. The reverse (back) sides on some of the cards tell the ownership history of the motel. Several of these have been scanned into the archives at our local museum---The Mohave Museum of History and Arts---and copies of these can be purchased from the museum. In an effort to catalogue these cards, I am using a methodoligy similar to that developed by Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis in their seminal work---*The Comprehensive Catalogue and Encyclopedia of U. S. Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars*. A Roman Numerial was used to desiginate the Obverse ("HEADS") and a Alpahbetic Letter, along with a numeric sub-script were used to desigiate the Reverse ("TAILS"). I will assign similar designators to the cards. We hope that you enjoy this history lessen as much as we did while researching and assembling it.

Front Image: I Back Image: A1

This is believed to be the first postcard of the motel. The left side of the card shows the building before addition(s) were made. The right side of the card reveals that the current living quarters were not yet built. It is interesting to track changes that have been made over the years.

The motel has 3 of these cards in its collection, one of which bears a cancellation date of November 5, 1955. At that time, postage was 2 cents.

It is probably a safe assumption that a salesperson from the postcard company took a few photos of the property. These photos were then submitted to an art department to create a "rendering" of the property.

The far end of the motel was added on to several times. The living quarters for the owners was initially in the corner in what is now designated as rooms 105 and 106. These rooms would have been designated with a single digit number. In 1981 the existing cord-board phone system was replaced with a MITEL SX-20 PBX system and a three digit numbering system was needed for programming room extensions. This type of telephone system is still in use at the motel. If the telephone system is powered with "clean" power and protected from lightning, the system is still able to meets the needs of the motel and its guests. Back in 2002, we did not make our insurance company happy, because we were struck by lightning 2 times in the space of 7 days and 2 hours!

Front Image: I I Back Image: A3 Back Image: B1

This is believed to be the second postcard of the motel. The left side of the card shows the building addition(s) were made. It seems as though that what is now rooms 101, 102, 103, and 104 were constructed at the same time. The sewer line servicing that portion of the building had a cronic root problem. The line needed to be "snaked" 3 or 4 times a year to remove roots. Several years ago we hired a local plumber to locate and camera our sewer lines. I had been operating under the assumption that the sewer lines all fed from that end and wound up by room 122. I was very suprised when the plumber was standing in the parking lot at the East side of our cactus garden. It turned out that our root problem was located at the edge of the parking lot by room 101, and was a fairly easy fix. The depressed area in the parking lot was caused by a shallow sewer line that was partially collapsed. The damage section was replaced and 2 clean-outs were added.

The right side of the card reveals that an addition has been made to that part of the motel.

The back side of the cards show an original, unaltered card (A1). The second card (A2) is stamped for the Westerner Motel in Williams. This probably was a marketing tool used between motel properties. The third card (A3) has the owner information over-stamped. The forth card (B1) lists the Allans as being the owners.

We have 11 of these cards in our collection. One of them has the date of 4-26-58 written on it.

Front Image: I I I Back Image: A1 Back Image: A2

This is believed to be the next postcard of the motel.

The back side of the cards show an original, unaltered card (A1). The second card (A2) is stamped with the Horners being the owners. The was an interesting discovery, because it shows that the pool was built earlier than we had initially thought. The pool deck is much narrower and the blockwork at the pool and at the base of the sign are not yet done. A daughter of the Horners stated that her family had the blockwork done while they owned the motel.

It is interesting top note that the center island was grass and shrubs, and that there was a small area of grass by the sign. The extra space in the living quarters has not yet been built, since one can see a gap between the buildings. The Italian cypress trees were much shorter then.

Any car-buffs out there that can identify the make, model and year of the vehicles?

We have just 2 of these cards in our collection (one of each type).