Arizona’s Route 66 towns have ‘Radiator Springs’ connections

When the Interstate 40 Bypass around Winslow, Ariz., opened in 1979, traffic was diverted off Route 66, and downtown Winslow began to wither.

 

Dr. Greg Hackler, a retired local chiropractor and community leader, said: “We were just like ‘Radiator Springs.’ We dried up.”

 

“Radiator Springs” is the fictional hard-luck Route 66 town in the animated film “Cars,” released in 2006. The movie follows a red race car named “Lightning” McQueen and “his misadventures on Route 66.”

 

After I-40 bypassed the Route 66 towns, “traffic on the ‘Mother Road’ virtually evaporated overnight,” wrote Kevin Baxter of The Los Angeles Times.

About 135 miles west of Winslow, is another “Radiator Springs,” the Arizona town of Seligman, also on old Route 66.

 

Kathy Alexander of Legends of America.com, wrote: “When pioneers along the Beale Wagon Road passed through this area in the mid-19th century, the place was known as Mint Valley.” 

Later, when the Prescott & Central Arizona Railroad planned a rail line in 1886, the settlement became Prescott Junction.

That rail line was absorbed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in the 1890s. 

Shortly thereafter, Prescott Junction became Seligman, named after Jesse Seligman, a financier of the Santa Fe Railway. 

He and seven brothers were principals in the investment firm of J. & W. Seligman & Co., based in New York City.

As railroad traffic increased, the Fred Harvey hospitality group built a spectacular hotel in Seligman, complete with a large kitchen, lunchroom and newsstand. 

The facility was quite a contrast to the other structures in town, according to Alexander.

“At the turn of the 20th century, Seligman was populated primarily by cowboys working the large ranches of the area,” she said. “Along with these rough and ready men came a piece of the Wild West, complete with shootouts on the streets. At this time, the saloons and brothels outnumbered the churches three to one.”

Today, Seligman has a population of 797.

Seligman’s elder statesman, 99-year-old Angel Delgadillo, is a visionary. He said: “I-40 gets you from Point A to Point B the fastest way. You just drive. You don’t talk to people. You don’t see anything. You go around towns, not through them.”

 

Delgadillo is a respected businessman in Seligman. He was the town’s barber and pool hall proprietor (three tables). 

He and his wife, Vilma, had a little souvenir stand on the side.

 

Today, Angel Delgadillo is revered as the honorary Mayor of the Mother Road, the fellow most responsible for getting Route 66 classified as “Historic Route 66” in 1987…and back on the map of Americana.

 

Arizona Highways magazine recommends travelers take the 83-mile drive from Seligman west to Kingman. Writer Noah Austin says Historic Route 66 is a two-lane “Burma-Shave kind of road” where some of the company’s classic, red advertising signs have been recreated…just for fun.

“I think people go looking for Route 66 because they want a slower pace that has disappeared from their lives,” Delgadillo said. “They’re looking for something, just like all those people who drove it during the Depression. Those people were on a highway of hope. Now it’s a highway of dreams.”

Beginning in 2001, Delgadillo spent many hours talking with John Lasseter, the director of “Cars” about the historical significance of Route 66.

Listen to a prominent character from the movie named Sally Carrera, a 2002 Porsche 911. She shared with the audience her perception of the way things were before the superhighway:

 

“Back then, cars came across the country a whole different way. Cars didn’t drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.”

VisitArizona.com invites visitors to Seligman to “Get Your Kitsch on Route 66” at Seligman’s colorful and quirky gift shops – including Angel & Vilma Delgadillo’s Original Route 66 Gift Shop, The Historic Seligman Sundries, Return to the 50s, Rt. 66 Hippie Cricket and The Rusty Bolt. 

“Get your kicks and also, your knickknacks.”

 

To experience the best Seligman restaurants, hit up Delgadillo’s Snow Cap, opened by the Delgadillo family in 1953. Also, try Westside Lilo’s for American fare including burgers and sandwiches, and the Roadkill Café. Hit up the Black Cat Bar for domestic and regional draft beer and cocktails. 

Look for nods to the film “Cars” around town, including places like Historic Seligman Sundries. There's a pastel green-colored Volkswagen hippie van (just like Fillmore) in front of The Copper Cart Motoporium.

They’ll be rockin’…‘on the corner in Winslow, Arizona’

Winslow, Ariz., is one of the most popular communities on Route 66.

 

The whole town (population 8,365) and then some are expected to participate in this year’s “Standin’ on the Corner Festival,” a two-day event on Sept. 25-26 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the legendary highway Route 66.

Just to jog your rock’n’roll music memory, in the early 1970s singer-songwriter Jackson Browne experienced car trouble and had to layover in Winslow until mechanics at a local garage could fix his vehicle. 

So, he wrote about his stay.

Well, I’m a standin’ on (the) corner

In Winslow, Arizona,

And such a fine sight to see

It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford

Slowin’ down to take a look at me….

Browne’s good friend Glenn Frey was credited as co-writer of the song “Take It Easy.” Frey had just formed a new band named the Eagles.

 

“Take It Easy” became the Eagles’ first recording in 1972. A smash hit, the single peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”

A large “Route 66” emblem is painted on the pavement at the intersection of 2nd Street and Kinsley Avenue in downtown Winslow.

 

Local community leaders created a public attraction known as “Standin’ on the Corner Park,” which was dedicated in 1999. 

The centerpiece is a 6-foot-tall bronze statue of a young, floppy-haired, denim-clad troubadour holding his acoustic guitar. 

The sculptor is Ron Adamson of Libby, Mont. He named the monument “Easy,” and his son Dustin was the model.

 

The backdrop is a magnificent, two-story mural that was painted by artist John Pugh of Truckee, Calif., who maintains a studio in Ashland, Ore. 

It’s titled “Slowin’ Down to Take a Look,” a tribute to the Eagles band. Pugh is one of America’s premier muralists, employing an illusionary three-dimensional technique that “fools the eye.”

His Winslow mural features a girl driving a 1960 model red flatbed Ford. She appears as “a cleverly cool” window reflection. 

(To add even more realism, the community foundation has parked a genuine red 1960 flatbed Ford truck nearby.)

 

A second statue was added to the park in 2016, a likeness of the Eagles’ Glenn Frey, who died earlier that year at age 67. Its sculptor is Dee Jay Bawden of Provo, Utah.

 

Winslow was established in 1880 as a division point on the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad. Division points had large rail yards and were important during the steam era. Trains would run from division point to division point where they would change engines and crews and switch cars.

The town was named after railroad executive Gen. Edward F. Winslow (shown below), or maybe it was old Tom Winslow, a wily prospector and hermit. (Locals are about evenly divided.)

 

The western portion of the Atlantic & Pacific was absorbed by the legendary Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It became known as the Santa Fe Railroad in 1897.

 

This led the Fred Harvey Company to select Winslow as the site for development of a major hotel and restaurant complex that opened in 1930. Harvey built and ran all the hotels and restaurants of the Santa Fe Railway, eventually controlling a hospitality empire that spanned the continent.

“Winslow was the next to last Arizona town to be bypassed by Interstate 40,” said Diane Patterson, who once owned a downtown gift shop. “We used to watch hundreds of trucks roll by day and night.”

 

The festival revolves around music, and the impressive 2026 lineup of performers includes:

“One of These Nights,” an Eagles tribute band, as well as the “Josh Roy Band,” “High 90’s,” “Tommy Dukes,” “Pure Prophet,” “Chris Kane Trio” and “Ninth and Ash.”

One of These Nights

 

Josh Roy Band

High 90’s

Tommy Dukes

Food trucks, vendors and adult beverages will be available. Enter horseshoes and cornhole competitions. For more information, contact the Winslow Chamber of Commerce at winslowarizona.org.

Route 66 visitors may want to ‘lay over’ at Adrian, Texas

What else is there to do in Adrian, Texas, the midway point on Route 66 that runs from downtown Chicago, Ill., to the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles?

 

After having enjoyed a delicious home-style cooked meal served with a smile at the MidPoint Café, visitors may want to sashay over to the Dream Maker Station Route 66 Souvenir & Gift Shop and meet the owners Jason and Kelly Snyder.

 

They are described as being “super friendly and welcoming to all Route 66 road trippers,” offering refreshments appropriate for the season. The store has a complete line of nostalgic Route 66 gifts and souvenirs, including T-shirts, coffee mugs, shot glasses, patches, pins and much more. 

Play the pinball machine inside or sit outside and enjoy watching the Route 66 traffic passing by…and the ever-changing West Texas weather.

The historic building was originally Dub’s Enco-Humble Service Station, owned and operated by Dub Edmunds.

Dream Maker Station organizes and hosts an annual Route 66 Car Show, a popular event in the Texas Panhandle area. This fun event features classic cars, food trucks, vendors, raffles, door prizes and a music DJ.

 

For overnight accommodations in Adrian, book a room at the Fabulous 40 Motel on Route 66, which promotes itself as “the first and last motel in Texas.” The proprietors of the 20-unit motel are Roy and Ramona Kiewert. 

(The original plan called for 40 rooms, hence the name...but things changed.)

 

The place appeals to people who are in no rush to move on. In fact, the local chamber of commerce invites folks to linger long, basking in the glory of “no smog, no crowds, no lines.”

 

Adrian began to take form in 1900 when a Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway survey team, working west of Amarillo, Texas, identified it as a future site of a station and shipping point.

The town was named for Adrian Cullen, an early farmer in the area. Its official founding date was 1909, when the railway was completed through that portion of the Oldham County.

Learn more about the history of Adrian and Oldham County at the Julian Bivins Museum, located nearby at Boys Ranch, an unincorporated community on the site of the original county seat at Tascosa.

 

Once a raucous pioneer town, Tascosa was known for gunfights and barroom brawls.

The place was occupied and ruled in 1878 by 19-year-old Henry McCarty, known as “Billy the Kid,” and his gang, the Regulators. They were notorious horse and cattle rustlers.

 

The origin of Boys Ranch in an interesting story involving the “life and times” of Cal Farley. He arrived in Amarillo in 1923 to play second base with the Amarillo Gassers, a minor league baseball team. (Farley is the second from the right in the photo below).

 

Farley was an exceptional athlete. As a professional wrestler and World Welterweight Champion during the 1920s, Farley won 225 straight matches.

In Amarillo, he established a network of Wun-Stop-Duzzit tire shops, reviving several B.F. Goodrich dealerships.

In 1934, Farley started an after-school program for boys in Amarillo, sponsored by the Rotary Club. Interest grew. In 1938, rancher Julian Bivins (shown below) donated about 120 acres of land, about 30 miles northeast of Adrian, for Farley to establish Boys Ranch.

 

The facility opened in 1939 with nine boys in residence. The idea was to provide education and support for “the boy nobody wanted,” giving him “a shirttail to hang onto.”

Today, Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch is still in operation as a residential community open to at-risk children ages 5 to 18 (both boys and girls). About 300 children live in small cottages at Boys Ranch during the year.

 

Strong agricultural and spiritual components anchor the educational curriculum.