Frank A. Redford developed the Village after adding tipi-shaped motel units around a museum-shop he had built to house his collection of Native American artifacts.

The original drawing includes the swastika, at the time a symbol associated with Native Americans or often worn as a good-luck charm.

In the center is a much bigger concrete and steel central structure that originally served as a restaurant, plus a common area with playground, recreation space, and pavilion.

There are no telephones to maintain the original atmosphere of the motel, but the rooms do have cable TV and internet access.

[15] An attempt to save some of the tipis by using a helicopter to airlift them to a YMCA Summer Camp failed, as they were too heavy to move.

It was located 4 miles (6.4 km) north of downtown Bessemer, on U.S. Route 11,[4] and included 15 guest cabins, arranged in a semicircle around the restaurant, restrooms, and offices.

Current rooms contain the original restored hickory furniture, two double beds, satellite TV and a window-mounted air conditioner.

Small green metal benches etched with the words "Wigwam Village #6" are scattered throughout the complex as well.

[citation needed] Lewis operated the motel until closing it in 1974 when Interstate 40 bypassed downtown Holbrook.

Two years after his death in 1986, sons Clifton and Paul Lewis and daughter Elinor renovated the motel before reopening it in 1988.

Near the registration desk is a small room that contains much of Chester Lewis's memorabilia, including a collection of petrified wood.

The property had become very run down and rooms were rented by the hour, aggravated by a sign advertising "Do it in a Tee Pee" that is still on site in the back.

A man named Dan Ryan bought it in 1995, but subsequent attempts to locate him failed, and the taxes on the property were not paid.

In the 2006 Pixar film Cars, one of the characters Sally Carrera runs a "newly refurbished" neon-lit motel that is clearly inspired by Wigwam Village #6.

[19] In 2012 a digitally altered image of Wigwam Village #6 appeared in an advertisement for Microtel Inn and Suites.

[33] Wigwam Village #6 is featured in the 1991 movie The Dark Wind,[34] based on the 1982 Tony Hillerman novel of the same name.

Wigwam Village #7 is featured in Bobcat Goldthwait's 2011 black comedy film God Bless America.

Joan Didion mentions #7 in her essay "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream", included in her 1968 collection Slouching Towards Bethlehem.