Not only is Verkamp’s Curios the only visitor center on the Canyon’s edge, it also houses an exhibit that explains Grand Canyon as a community where people live and work.
As the first visitor center on the Rim, the building is staffed with uniformed rangers daily from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Grand Canyon Association operates a bookstore in the space as well.
When the Verkamp family didn’t submit a bid in 2007 to continue with the longest-running family business in the National Park Service, Park officials decided to buy out the family’s interest and convert the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, to interpretive use.
The building also contains information boards, touch tables, a replica of the original Verkamp tent, family movies and historic photos.