Why was La Fonda, a Harvey House Santa Fe significant?

La Fonda is probably the oldest corner hotel in the US and is located on the site of Santa Fe's first inn. Moreover, La Fonda is at the end of the Old Santa Fe Trail, which connected Independence in Missouri to Santa Fe and was a vital commercial route before the 1880 appearance of the railroad.

In the 1920s, the Fred Harvey Company, in partnership with the Santa Fe Railway, acquired La Fonda and linked Santa Fe to the historic period of railroad expansion into the West.