December 5, 2018 • Vol. 17, No. 3
POSTAL PATRON CAVE CREEK
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ECRWSS Carrier Route PreSorted Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 371 Cave Creek, AZ
Anthem | Black Canyon City | Carefree | Cave Creek | Desert Hills | New River| North Phoenix | Tramonto | Peoria
The historic Castle Hot Springs Resort will rise from its ashes this February, 42 years after a fire destroyed it BY TARA ALATORRE
He stands over a grave 50 miles northwest of Phoenix in Morristown, Ariz., the names Erwin and Ena McGuire, engraved in the headstone. Yet another ghost story he’s uncovered connected to the enchanted, legendary Castle Hot Springs Resort, but before leaving the small desert town he gets a chilling email. Steven Sampson, who is a part of a dedicated team of local hospitality experts painstakingly restoring the historic Castle Hot Springs Resort back to its original glory, has just taken a picture of the dusty headstone when the McGuire’s granddaughter – who he has
never met, contacted and didn’t even know existed – sends him a message of gratitude about the revival of the iconic resort. “A chill ran down my spine,” Sampson said about the haunting moment, while adding that he immediately emailed the woman a picture of her grandparents’ headstone in a moment of disbelief. “So, I contact her, and I tell her what just happened. Dead silence, dead silence on the other end.” The McGuire’s granddaughter, who lives in West Virginia, saw through social media that the resort would be reopening soon. She coincidently reaches out to Sampson in the same moments he snaps a picture of
her grandparents' headstone. “She tells me, ‘You’re probably going to uncover a lot more, it is a very magical and mystical place.’ Interesting coincidence!” Sampson said. “The history of Castle Hot Springs is like peeling back the layers of an onion.” Erwin, who was known as Mac, and Ena McGuire, both worked at the Castle Hot Springs Resort, and eventually became the caretakers of the property when it was abandoned after a fire destroyed it in 1976. They lived on the property until their deaths, and their granddaughter spent her childhood summers
CASTLE HOT SPRINGS continued on page 10
Take the Verde Canyon Railroad Christmas Train to the North Pole
Pictured: Santa's Workshop Village on the Verde Canyon Railroad's train ride to the North Pole.
Photo by Karen Alexander/Staff
NORTH P0LE TRAIN
STORY INSIDE ON PAGE 13
Pictured: The historic pool at Castle Hot Springs, which was built in the early 1900s, will open for guests again this February after over 40 years of being abandoned. The 9-foot-deep pool is fed directly from the pure mineral hot springs, and holds 125,000 gallons of water.
Photo courtesy of Castle Hot Springs Resort/Photo by Lara Vineyard
No lives lost during Thanksgiving holiday travel along state higways PHOENIX — No collision fatalities on state highways patrolled by The Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) were reported during the 2018 Thanksgiving holiday, from Wednesday evening November 21, through Sunday evening November 25. This success is due to the combined efforts of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, the Arizona Department of Transportation, AZDPS and most of all the public. “Every year we strive to have zero highway fatalities during
any major holiday weekend. This past Thanksgiving weekend we managed to achieve this goal in large measure through the great work involving the women and men of the Department who patrolled our state highways, the Govenor’s Office of Highway Safety and the Arizona Department of Transportation,” Col. Frank Milstead, Director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety said. Below are the fatal collision
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Receiving grant, replacing 4
Foothills Food Bank needs
Frontier Town opens Western
old, polluting buses
dontations for holidays
wedding venue
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HOLIDAY TRAVEL continued on page 7
• Bluhm Column
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• Service Directory
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• Classified Ads
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