Hotel Vinita
Jct. of Canadian and Wilson Sts., SW corner, Vinita, OKThe Hotel Vinita, built in 1930, is significant as a reflection of the growing awareness of the automobile as the new form of transportation. Formerly, large hotels were built near the railroad line to accommodate the passenger trains. The Hotel Vinita is an excellent example of one the few large hotels built along Route 66 to serve the growing numbers of automobile travelers who were making the trip from east to west across the United States. It is one of two hotels of such size that remain standing on the original Route 66 highway and the only one located in eastern Oklahoma. The second hotel, the Casa Grande, is located in western Oklahoma in Elk City and is similar in size and design. The Will Rogers Hotel in Claremore, Oklahoma, another multi-story hotel, was not along Route 66 until the highway was re-routed by it. The architecture of the Hotel Vinita is also significant as an excellent example of hotel design in the Spanish Eclectic style of architecture. Contextually, it relates to "Commerce on Route 66 in Oklahoma (1926-1944)" and as a property type, it relates to Cabins, Motor Courts, and Hotels.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.