Route 66 in Arizona Driving Tour
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Description
This tour is a work in progress - more entries will be added soon.
Topics
Route 66
1. Trails Arch Bridge
This historic bridge was built in 1916 and was located where the historic Route 66 once traversed the Colorado River. From here, travelers either crossed west into California or east into Arizona. An excellent example of a through-arch bridge, this structure spans 600 feet of riverbed and is 800 feet long. It was the longest bridge in the country until 1928 and is considered a landmark of civil engineering. The bridge now carries a natural gas pipeline and was Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The location on the map is the best place to view the bridge.
2. Oatman Drug Company Building
The Oatman Drug Company Building was erected in 1915 during the town of Oatman's heyday as a thriving mining center in Mohave County. The building is one of the few structures from the period as it survived a 1921 fire that destroyed many of the neighboring buildings. The building held a general/drug store for many years and at other times was a saloon and soda fountain. Travelers and tourists on Route 66 often stopped at the building. Today, Oatman is a destination for those seeking an "old west" experience and those wanting to retrace Route 66. Appropriately, the historic Oatman building has long been home to a shop that caters to tourists driving along what was once part of Route 66.
3. Oatman Hotel
The Oatman Hotel is the only adobe structure in Mohave County. It was built in 1924 when Oatman was experiencing a period of prosperity thanks to the productive gold mines in the area. Tourists traveling on the National Old Trails Highway, which became part of Route 66 in 1926, further encouraged this growth as well. The hotel is also notable for being where famous actors Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon in 1939. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
4. Arizona Route 66 Museum and Visitor Center
Housed in a historic powerhouse that was constructed from 1909 to 1911, this Arizona museum traces the history of Route 66 highway, a legendary road network that stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles from the 1920s until it was bypassed and eclipsed by the interstate highway system. Route 66 was one of the first major highways in the country, and while it is officially defunct, segments of the road continue to connect communities and the network of roads remains a cultural icon that holds an important place in American history and pop culture. The museum features a variety of exhibits that include life-size dioramas, photographs, historical items and artifacts, and murals with descriptions of the groups of people that used the route. The building also includes the Route 66 Electric Vehicle Museum, with 29 vehicles on display. The Powerhouse was built in two phases between 1909 and 1911. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
5. Seligman, Birthplace of Historic Route 66 Sign
Signs proclaiming Seligman as the birthplace of historic Route 66 greet visitors on both the east and west sides fo the quintessential historic Arizona town. Claims about the road's birthplace can be found from Illinois to California, but this proclamation about Seligman is unique. Rather than claiming a piece of the Mother Road's 1920s origin story, Seligman's claim to Route 66 fame is related to a 1987 effort to restore the name of the historic route to what is now the longest still-operating stretch of the historic road. In that year, a group led by local barber Angel Delgadillo established the Historic Route 66 Association, which convinced the state government to designate Route 66 as a historic highway. For his efforts, Delgadillo earned the nickname "guardian angel of Route 66." Seligman also became known as the "birthplace of historic Route 66" as it is the starting place of the longest stretch of road named in honor of Route 66.
6. Santa Fe Railroad Depot
Constructed by the Santa Fe Railroad in 1926, this historic depot in downtown Flagstaff is listed on the Register of Historic Places and is also a contributing property of the Railroad Addition Historic District. Now called Flagstaff Station, the building continues to operate as a passenger depot for Amtrak and also houses the Flagstaff Visitor Center. In terms of architecture, the depot is a good example of Tudor Revival architecture and resembles a residential building.
7. McMillan Building
Located across the street from the Santa Fe Railroad Depot, the McMillan Building is a historic commercial building named after the father of Flagstaff, Thomas F. McMillan. McMillan was a successful sheep rancher who bought the partially completed building in 1888, a year after construction began. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a contributing property within Flagstaff's Railroad Historic District, which is also on the National Register.
8. Canyon Diablo Bridge
Constructed in 1915, this bridge was later incorporated into Route 66 highway, a network of existing roads supplemented by additional construction to create a single road that stretched from Chicago to Santa Monica, California. At this location, travelers on Route 66 crossed over Canyon Diablo using this bridge until 1938, when a road realignment led to the construction of a new bridge. The former town of Two Guns arose next to the bridge and became a popular tourist stop along the highway. The bridge was built of steel and concrete and features a cantilevered roadway and two parapet walls, one of which is solid to protect the roadway from floods, and the other is slotted to allow water to flow out. Route 66 was eventually superseded by Interstate Highway 40. Today, the bridge is surrounded by ruins of former buildings that once lined Route 66. The structure has not been connected to an active road for many decades but it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains historically significant as an early example of an automobile bridge in Arizona.
9. Winslow Visitor Center & Hubble Trading Post
The Winslow Visitor Center & Hubble Trading Post was built in 1917 for trader Hubert Richardson, who sold it in 1920 to another trader, John Lorenzo Hubbell. It played a critical role in strengthening economic ties between Navajo Indians and the rest of the country. Here the Navajo traded sheep, meat, wool, blankets and jewelry for coffee, sugar, salt, canned food, clothing and other goods. The building also included a museum that displayed Indian artifacts and historical frontier items. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It also houses the Winslow Chamber of Commerce.
10. Standin’ On The Corner Park
Dedicated in 1999, Winslow's Standin' On The Corner Park commemorates the famous line in the Eagles' hit single "Take it Easy." The park includes a mural, a statue of a man holding a guitar, and a red flatbed Ford at the curb year-round. The park is located on the corner of Second and Kinsley Ave along Historic Route 66.
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11. La Posada Hotel Historic District
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, the La Posada Historic District consists of the La Posada Hotel, the Winslow railroad station, and smaller buildings and a variety of site features including landscape elements, gardens, and a five-foot exposed adobe wall. A successful hospitality business called the Fred Harvey Company developed the site to provide lodging to tourists and others traveling on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF). The hotel and station were the work of noted architect Mary Colter, who designed many buildings for the Fred Harvey Company. She often incorporated Spanish Colonial architecture and Native American elements into her designs, and she considered La Posada Hotel and station to be her finest work. The hotel operates today and includes the Affeldt Mion Museum, which is located in the station and showcases the work of native American artists. The station is also an Amtrak stop.
12. Wigwam Village Motel #6
The inspiration for the Wigwam Village Motel in Holbrook, Arizona came when Chester Lewis drove through Cave City, Kentucky and saw the original Wigwam Village constructed by architect Frank Redford. Lewis purchased rights to the use of the Wigwam Village name and in 1950, his village was completed (the sixth such village, hence its name). Located along historic Route 66, the village is comprised of fifteen concrete and steel teepees arranged around the main office. Though the village suffered visitation when Interstate 40 came through nearby in the 1970s, Lewis’s wife and children renovated the property and reopened the motel in 1988. Part of the main office is now a museum, which holds Lewis’s collection of American Indian artifacts, Civil War memorabilia, Route 66 collectibles, and collection of petrified wood. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
