Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, architect and interior designer for the Fred Harvey Company, designed a number of Grand Canyon National Park's historic buildings, including the Desert View Watchtower, Lookout Studio, Hopi House, and Hermit's Rest, between 1905 and 1931.

The Kolb brothers were photographers and adventurists, as well as some of Grand Canyon's earliest permanent Euroamerican residents. The brothers made the first motion picture film of river-running in the Canyon, and showed their film daily in Kolb Studio on the South Rim.

John George Verkamp opened the first Grand Canyon curio shop, consisting of a tent from which he sold Native American crafts and souvenirs, in 1898. With few tourists, his first enterprise lasted only a few weeks, but following the construction of the El Tovar hotel on the South Rim, he returned, building Verkamp's Curios, which was completed in 1906. The Verkamp family closed the store in 2008, after just over 100 years of being in business. The building is now a National Park Service visitor contact station and museum.

The Fred Harvey Company operated hotels and restaurants across the Southwest, and in 1905, was selected to manage the El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon. The company also hired Mary Colter, architect and designer of Hopi House, Lookout Studio, Hermits Rest, and the Desert View Watchtower.