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'Route 66 ceased to exist in 1985.' How an Arizona barber helped preserve the Mother Road's legacy

Route 66 sign along a highway against a desert sunset with mountains in the distance
Getty Images
U.S. Highway 66 is popularly known as Route 66 or the Mother Road.

Route 66 was established Nov. 11, 1926, as highway US 66. 

“I think everything we know about road trips we learned from Route 66, because this changed how America traveled. We were still a nation that traveled by train for the most part,” said Arizona travel writer Roger Naylor, author of the book “Arizona Kicks on Route 66.” 

Nicknaed the Mother Road, it gave drivers freedom to explore America in a new way.

“You can pull over and sleep in a wigwam, or you can pull over at an old trading post or a place where you see some old ruins and stop and take a photo,” Naylor said.

And, you know, get your kicks.

Nearly 100 years ago, Route 66, the first cross-country road, was built in America. Now, the upcoming centennial of the Mother Road is in 2026. But, we’re losing pieces of that history all the time today.

But in the 1970s and '80s, the highway had something of a midlife crisis.

“Route 66 ceased to exist in 1985,” Naylor said. “It wasn’t just a lack of popularity; it disappeared. It was gone.” 

It was removed from the U.S. Highway System, and the quicker, smoother interstate replaced it. 

“And the only reason it came back is because of a handful of residents in a little town called Seligman, Arizona, led by the town barber, Angel Delgadillo,” Naylor said.  

That Seligman barber formed the first Historic Route 66 Association to lobby for an historic designation for the road —and they got it. 

“That’s one of the reasons I love it so much, is that it wasn’t saved by government, it wasn’t saved by corporations — it was saved by individuals, by people who stepped up and said ‘I want to preserve this piece of our heritage,’” Naylor said.

Arizona Kicks on Route 66
(Photo via amazon.com)
"Arizona Kicks on Route 66" by Roger Naylor and Larry LIndahl

Drivers like Naylor were happy to take the road more traveled, after it rose in popularity again.

“Contrary to what our fathers taught us, a good road trip isn’t defined by making good time. It’s about having a good time,” Naylor said. “I’ve got this little device in my truck that I use all the time, and it’s really proven very effective for me. It’s right by the gas pedal — it’s called the brake. I just try to use it a lot when I’m on the road. If I see something I want to check out, I pull over. I stop.”

And one of his favorite stops is a hiking trail near a rest stop called Cool Springs.

“So it goes up to this high promontory across the road up on this mesa. And you have views all across the Black Mountains that gnaw the clouds with broken teeth, and these rambling ridgelines. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful scenery and you see back down the old highway and you can listen to the burrows from Oatman braying in the evening air and watch the sun go down. I think that’s my favorite spot on Route 66.”

Naylor said proudly the Arizona portion of Route 66 has the longest unbroken stretch, as well as the steepest grade, the longest curve, and the only portion that goes through a national park: the Petrified Forest.

Annika Cline was a producer for KJZZ's The Show from 2014 to 2019.
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