The rustic lodge complex is a major contributing building in the Grand Canyon Village National Historic Landmark District.

Thurber ran a stagecoach line from the Grandview area to this new location to the west in 1896, building a small wood-frame hotel.

[2] Thurber sold the Bright Angel operation to Williams, Arizona hotelier Martin Buggeln, in time for the Grand Canyon Railroad to be completed to the South Rim in September.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which owned the Grand Canyon Railroad and the South Rim concessions, asked architect Mary Colter to design a replacement.

The stone fireplace materials reproduce the strata found in the Grand Canyon along the Bright Angel Trail in their correct sequence from bottom to top.

[6] The Bright Angel Lodge and cabins are significant contributing structures in the Grand Canyon Village National Historic Landmark District.