Route 66 - Seligman, Arizona

Here we are in Seligman, Arizona, home to fewer than 500 people and a popular stopping point for Route 66 travellers. This area was historically the home of the Yuman-speaking Havasupai Native American people, who have been settled in the area for almost a thousand years. Formerly surviving through agriculture and hunter-gatherer culture, tourism is their modern-day main source of revenue as Supai, their major city in the Havasupai Reservation, has around 20,000 visitors a year, despite having the reputation as being one of the most remote cities in the United States, ultimately reachable only by hike, horse, or helicopter.

It is often said that Seligman wouldn't exist without Route 66, and Route 66 wouldn't exist without Seligman, or at least famous resident Angel Delgadillo. Of an age with the route itself - he was born in 1927 when the roads that formed Route 66 were first being connected. Angel followed the family trade and became a barber just like his father, Angel Delgadillo Sr. In 1972, Angel moved his barber shop from its previous location to take advantage of Route 66's slightly adjusted route, which now passed through Seligman. Everything went with him: his father's 1926 barber chair and three pool tables. With nearly 10,000 cars passing through daily, trade was brisk for Angel and the rest of Seligman's businesses.

Then on 22 September 1978, the cars disappeared, the new Interstate 40 had opened two miles to the south, and as Angel put it, "the world forgot about us". Angel and his brother discovered that the only signage that even mentioned Seligman was 16 miles away. They campaigned for another four more useful mentions, but it wasn't enough.

Not to be beaten, Angel tapped into the one thing most Route 66 travellers are interested in - nostalgia. Seligman took the bait and is now known as "The Birthplace of Historic Route 66".



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