Seligman — Birthplace of Historic Route 66
Seligman, Yavapai County, Arizona
Marker Inscription
Seligman, where in 1987 the movement to preserve Historic Route 66 began, leading Arizona to designate the first stretch of 'Historic Route 66.'
Erected by Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona
The Story
When Interstate 40 bypassed the town, barber Angel Delgadillo organized to save the 'Mother Road.' His effort revived Route 66 as a nostalgic travel corridor across the Southwest.
Why it matters
Seligman sparked the Route 66 revival — the road trip as American cultural heritage.
Related people
- · Angel Delgadillo
Related events
- · Route 66 preservation
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Golden Spike — Promontory Summit
Promontory, UT · est. 1957
Two railroads — one built east from California largely by Chinese laborers, the other west across the plains — joined rails at Promontory. The country could now be crossed in days instead of months.
Sutter's Mill — Coloma
Coloma, CA · est. 1949
Marshall's discovery drew some 300,000 'forty-niners' to California within a few years, reshaping the West, accelerating statehood, and devastating Native communities.
The Alamo
San Antonio, TX · est. 1936
For 13 days a small garrison held the former mission against a far larger Mexican force. Their deaths rallied Texas; weeks later Sam Houston's army won independence at San Jacinto.
Cahokia Mounds
Collinsville, IL · est. 1982
The Mississippian people built a sophisticated urban center of plazas, mounds, and a solar calendar of timber posts. Cahokia was larger than London at the time before declining by 1350.