Friday, July 22, 2022

A Few Photographs From Along Route 66; Seligman Arizona; Part I

Seligman is a very small town in the middle of the Arizona desert.  It is not one to be missed
if you are traveling Route 66. (click to enlarge)

Seligman, Arizona is on old Route 66 between Williams and Kingman, Arizona.  It is east of Hackberry.  I posted a number of Hackberry photos here and here.  Seligman is a bustling little town with lots of tourists' buses as well as tourists on motorcycles, RVs and automobiles.  If you want to make some images of the old Route 66 relics in Seligman, I suggest you get there relatively early before the 'bus' crowds arrive.

Seligman is also the home of Angel Delgadillo, the man who is largely credited for bringing Route 66 back from the dead.  He organized, lobbied and worked tirelessly (with others of course) for years to have the label, "Historic Route 66," designated to the old 'Mother Road.'  Route 66 is what it is today—popular, being revived, thriving, etc., because of Angel.

Angel Delgadillo posing for me in his
barbershop in 2013. (click to enlarge)
Angel is a barber and now is about 94 years old.  He regularly cut hair as well as entertained visitors until very recently, according to his son-in-law, with whom I spoke during our visit.  His son-in-law told me Angel gets out everyday to ride his bike and was in the shop earlier, but I had just missed him.  My loss.  His and his wife's gift shop (Angel and Vilma's) is still open, now run by his daughter and son-in-law, and the adjacent barbershop is there to walk in to visit as well.  I was fortunate to have made Angel's portrait in his barbershop when I last visited Seligman in 2013.  I have included that image just to the right..

Just down the street from Angel and Vilma's Gift Shop is the Sno Cap Drive-In Restaurant.  The Sno Cap is now run by Angel's nephew but was originated in 1953 by Angel's brother, Juan.  I think the Delgadillo family "owns" this town, so to speak.

Both places, as well as several others, are 'must see' stops when in Seligman.

Here are a few images from Seligman.


The Snow Cap restaurant has been a staple in Seligman since 1953.  Angel's brother, Juan, built
and operated it until his death in 2004.  Good food and great milkshakes! (click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

A very unusual display! (click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Juan Delgadillo's son John is now runs the Sno Cap Drive-In Restaurant.  Don't go in if you
don't have a good sense of humor or don’t like practical jokes! (click to enlarge)

I'll present a few more photos from Seligman in my next post.  Route 66, if you already haven't reached this conclusion, has a plethora of photographic opportunities.  The key is taking your time driving across country.  The first time I did it, my friend and I took 13 days.  This time, 14 days.  You could easily take even more time.  Time and doing a little research ahead of time are the keys to lots of photographic as well as historical and cultural discoveries.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

All content on this blog is © 2013-2022 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.

No comments:

Post a Comment