Introduction:
What? :
Seligman is
located on highway 40, between Flagstaff to the east and Kingman to the west. For
many people Seligman preserves the Route 66 “good old American days”, for other
it is just another tourist attraction/trap town mainly used for fuel and food
stop along their northern Arizona east-west drive.
Seligman is in
northwestern Arizona located on highway I-40 and it is one of the stops on
historic U.S. Route 66.
According 2020
census the local population was only 456.
Route 66
represent a romantic memory from the time it was used to travel all the way along
2,448 miles from Chicago, Illinois in the east to Santa Monica, California
ocean front in the west.
Route 66 was
established by the U.S. Congress in November 1926, starting in Chicago,
Illinois and ending in Los Angeles, California. The highway became “famous”
during WW2 and kept its nostalgic icon since then.
For some the
highway symbolizes escape and the hope of a new beginning heading west and for
others it is past reflection on the “good old America” that was left behind
when the modernize word created the new highways system, living behind thrive
communities and cities to get fall apart overtime.
Even though visiting
here is more like Route 66 “tourist traps”, but they are nice one and fun to
stop at.
Originally,
Seligman was called "Prescott Junction" because it was the railroad
stop on the Santa Fe mainline junction with the Prescott and Arizona Central
Railway. This railroad junction as well as route 66 hotels help Slingman to
thrive at the mid of the last century.
The town was
bypassed by Interstate 40 in 1978 and start to get “left behind”.
Building of
highway 40 and bypassing the towns initiate the movement to revive historic
Route 66 romance that will attract tourists and history enthusiastic to the
“forgotten behind” towns.
The Pixar
movies Car and the town of Radiator Springs is loosely based on Seligman. While
researching the history of Route 66, John Lasseter, director of the first two
Cars films, met Seligman barber Angel Delgadillo, who told him how traffic
through the town virtually disappeared on the day that nearby Interstate 40
opened.
What to do:
I stop here
several times, to fill gas and to eat lunch in the few local restaurants along
the main town road.
If we stop for lunch,
we usually doing it in Westside Lilo's Café.
As you drive
the main street you will see several colorful and quirky gift shops that many tourists
bus stop nearby.
They can be overcrowded
when many tourists are around but when the buss left you can explore the stores
and even talk with the local sell people and learn about this place.
Where? :
Seligman is
located exactly mid-way between Flagstaff and Kingman Arizona on highway I-40.
From Kingman
Az. To Seligman it is 72 miles east (1 hr drive) on highway 40. If you want to
drive the old route 66 passing through Peach Springs and the Hualapai Indian
Reservation it will be 90 miles drive, plan for at least 2 hours drive with
some stops along that longer way.
If you are
coming from Flagstaff, Arizona and driving west on highway 40 Seligman is
located 75 miles away.
Google Map Link
When? :
Seligman is
located in the high dry desert of northern Arizona and can have dry and hot
summer days, summer is considered to be from May to Sep..
At elevation of
5,240 feet (1,600 m) Seligman have cold winters with mean slightly above freezing
temperatures (32f, 0c) and can have snowstorms.
Additional Pictures:
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