Mary E. J. Colter’s ‘Geologic Fireplace’
Architect and decorator Mary E. J. Colter (1869-1958) worked off-and-on at the Grand Canyon for four decades while employed by hospitality company Fred Harvey. Attracting and entertaining guests was part of her brief, but she often achieved this with an educational flourish. In her design for the south rim’s Bright Angel Lodge, Colter integrated the geology of the Grand Canyon into the lounge’s fireplace. The rocks used in its construction were gathered from different strata of the canyon and packed out by mules led by trail guide Ed Cummings.
Colter’s goal was to reference the geology of the canyon to create an “authentic and therefore interesting” fireplace for guests. To achieve scientific accuracy, she relied on park naturalist Edwin McKee. “I know the design I want but depend entirely on you for the geology,” she wrote to him in 1935, when she also asked McKee to review the rocks collected by Cummings. “You know I am not trying to show every strata in every part of the whole canyon, - only those that occur either on the Bright Angel or the South Rim part of the Kaibab trails.”
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