February 17th is the 100th anniversary of Geronimo’s death. The day will probably pass unnoticed by most, but that was not always the case. In the early 1900s, the very mention of his name would engender passioned feelings against Geronimo. When it was proposed that a new Tucson hotel bear his name, the Star strongly editorialized against the move.
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1987 Star photo
The Geronimo, formerly the Geronimo Hotel.
The city fathers hoped to use the name of the famed Apache Indian to bring curious tourists to Tucson. What better way to do that, than have a hotel named for the warrior who lead many deadly raids into Arizona.
And, if that wasn’t enough to make Easterners remember the Apache campaigns of the 70s and 80s, then the “chamber of horrors” in the basement might just do the trick. The display, proposed by Harry Arizona Drachman, would consist of wax figures depicting the raids in all their horror.
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The Star wrote “we would urge that the promoters of the name scheme be tolerant, yet awhile, of the belief of the living old timers that Geronimo’s atrocities were unjustified, that it was wrong to murder pioneer Arizona settlers and their wives and children. Be tolerant of the feelings of the old timers.”
But, Geronimo prevailed as the name of the new Geronimo Hotel which opened in 1919. Located at the corner of North Euclid Avenue and East University Boulevard, the original Santa Fe styled lodge, consisted of nine cottages.
An 85-room addition was added later, but got off to a rocky start. It opened on Oct. 29, 1929.
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1983 Star photo
A truck knocked out two pillars of the Geronimo’s main entrance on University Blvd.
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1986 Star photo
Remodeling work began on Geronimo Hotel.
By the 1980s, the Hotel Geronimo had fallen on serious hard times. Once considered one of the finest lodges in Tucson, it had become a low-rent housing area for students and seniors. Condemnation loomed in its future.
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1987 Star photo
The Geronimo after renovation.
But, a group stepped in and bought the decaying landmark. It was refurbished according to historic guidelines and reborn, in 1986, as The Geronimo. It was to be home to offices, small businesses and restaurants.
Hopefully, the planned chamber of horrors idea was abandoned, or at least lost to history.
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