yee-haw

 

I am a sucker for old neon signs -- especially those motel signs.  As I looked back over my Tucson trip, I found scores of retro signs.  According to their webpage, The Quarter Horse Motel was established in the 1940s.  The motel capitalizes on Benson's western heritage and its proximity to Tombstone.  As I pack for another adventure, I know that the Marriott sign will look just like those on every other Marriott property.  Too bad!

 

The Quarter Horse Motel

Benson, Arizona

2.28.2014

out to pasture

 

Both the barn with its leaning stance and peeling paint and the horses with bony haunches and visible ribs have seen better days.  Founded in 1880, Benson  was as a stopping point for the Butterfield Overland Stage mail delivery route.  The stage robbery on the Benson-Tombstone Stage Route in 1881 took the life of stagecoach driver Bud Philpot and became one of the events that led to the Earp-Clanton gunfight at the O.K. Corral in nearby Tombstone.

 

Benson, Arizona

2.28.2014

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