Hubbell Trading Post

Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site in Ganado, northeastern Arizona, preserves the oldest continuously operating trading post on the Navajo Nation, established by John Lorenzo Hubbell around 1878 and operated by his family until 1967, when the National Park Service acquired the property. The site consists of the original stone trading post building, the Hubbell family home, a barn, a visitor center, and approximately 160 acres of surrounding high-desert landscape. John Lorenzo Hubbell, born in New Mexico to a Spanish-American father and Connecticut mother, became one of the most influential figures in the Navajo textile trade of the late 19th century. He encouraged Navajo weavers to produce rugs and blankets based on traditional Navajo patterns rather than imitating the Saltillo serape designs that had been popular in the 1860s and 1870s, effectively promoting the style now recognized internationally as classic Navajo weaving. Paintings and tapestry cartoons commissioned by Hubbell as design models for weavers are still displayed in their original locations on the walls of the historic bullpen, the interior trading room where Navajos exchanged wool, blankets, and livestock for coffee, flour, canned goods, and hardware. The bullpen retains its original wood-plank counters, iron scales, and shelving stacked with goods as they would have appeared in the early 20th century. The Hubbell home, a Territorial-style adobe structure, contains a remarkable collection of Navajo rugs, Hopi basketry, and Western American art assembled by Hubbell over his lifetime and displayed in the rooms exactly as arranged during his occupancy. The site continues to operate as a working trading post where Navajo artisans sell weavings, jewelry, and other traditional crafts directly to visitors, maintaining the commercial tradition that Hubbell established more than a century ago. A weaving demonstration program hosted by the Western National Parks Association brings Navajo weavers on-site to demonstrate traditional techniques at a floor loom visible from the trading floor. Free guided tours of the Hubbell home and trading post are offered by National Park Service rangers throughout the day.