Winslow, Arizona

Most of my posts on this blog have described our trip through a town or stretch of Route 66: our route and what we saw along it, often with turn-by-turn directions. This post on Winslow is different because, unlike almost any other stop on Route 66, Winslow has come to be defined by one street corner—a corner that has dramatically changed the town. So this post starts there, fans out to other Winslow sights, and ends up at one of Route 66’s crown jewels: La Posada Hotel.

The street corner is mentioned in the Eagles’ 1972 hit song “Take It Easy.” The lyrics include the lines, “Standin’ on the corner of Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin’ down to take a look at me.”

Of all the towns in the world, why Winslow? Jackson Browne, who wrote much of the song, was driving through Winslow when his van broke down. So the town left an impression on him. But he didn’t know what to write as the next lyric. He talked about the song with Glenn Frey, who lived in an apartment above him in California.

Frey had heard Browne tell a story about a girl in a Toyota pickup slowing down to take a look at him as she was driving out of a restaurant parking lot in Flagstaff, Arizona. (The restaurant is now the Route 66 Dog Haus. It's on the northeast corner of Route 66 and Switzer Canyon Road.) Inspired by that story, Frey came up with the line about a girl in a flatbed Ford. Frey’s band, The Eagles, was about to record its first album, and Browne agreed that they should include the song on it. “Take It Easy” became the Eagles’ debut single and first hit.

We visited Winslow once before, in Summer 1999. We were driving from Albuquerque to the Grand Canyon (I confess Route 66 wasn’t on our minds back then!) when we saw a billboard advertising “Standin’ on the Corner – Winslow, Arizona.”  So we impulsively detoured into Winslow.

We found a mural on the northeast corner of 2^nd Street (Route 66 eastbound) and North Kinsley Avenue that’s still there today. We didn’t know at the time that the mural had been painted very shortly before we visited. Much of it was painted by local high school students.

Standin' on the Corner Park in Summer 1999

Standin' on the Corner Park in October 2022

You can see that the wide brick sidewalk in front of the mural—now known as Standin' on the Corner Park--was still under construction when we visited in 1999. The statue of a man holding a guitar (meant to represent all singer-songwriters) was not yet installed, and there was no sign explaining that, yes, this is "the" corner. The park officially opened in September 1999, just a few weeks after we visited.

The mural is great—you can see the girl in the flatbed Ford “reflected” in the bottom “windows.” The mural was painted on the side of a building called the Rasco Building, which once housed a J.C. Penney department store. (On the left side of our 1999 photo above, you can see an overhang over the building entrance.) The building was gutted by fire in 2004. Remarkably, the mural wasn’t seriously damaged. The wall was propped up with supports for several years while the ruined building was fenced off and neglected. Eventually the remains were razed, and a park called Route 66 Place was created on the building’s site.

Route 66 Place on the left

I found an article from 2011 on plans for Route 66 Place. It’s interesting to compare those plans with the park today. It hosts an annual music festival.

Today a huge Route 66 shield has been painted in the intersection in front of the mural.

Intersection of 2nd Street and North Kinsley Avenue in Winslow

A statue of Glenn Frey was added in 2016 after he passed away.

Statue of Glenn Frey is on the right

We visited around 9:30 on a weekday morning in October 2022, and there was already quite a crowd getting photos, even though it was too early for decent lighting.

Standin' on the Corner Park with a flatbed Ford on the right

There are several interesting vintage buildings near Standin’ on the Corner Park. Across North Kinsley Avenue is the Standin' on the Corner Route 66 gift shop at 100 East 2^nd Street in a cool brick building.

Standin' on the Corner Route 66 gift shop in Winslow

We took a photo of the entrance to this building in 1999 because we thought this might be “the” corner—remember Standin' on the Corner Park didn’t have a sign yet.

The same gift shop in 1999

Across 2^nd Street (Route 66 eastbound) from Standin' on the Corner Park, at 101 West 2^nd Street, is the adorable brick Navajo County Bank Building. The sign says it was built in 1904.

Navajo County Bank Building in Winslow

Behind the Bank Building, at 115 North Kinsley Avenue, is the Winslow Theater.

Winslow Theater

Across the street from the theater is the 66 Motor Palace at 112 North Kinsley Avenue.

66 Motor Palace in Winslow

The 66 Motor Palace is in one of Winslow’s earliest buildings, built around 1892-1901. It has been rehabilitated into apartments. Motor Palace Mercantile, a shop on the first floor, was not yet open when we visited. A cool old trailer and pickup truck were parked along the side of the building. 

On the side of the 66 Motor Palace in Winslow

Back up on 2^nd Street, a block east of Standin’ on the Corner Park, is a cottage-style former Conoco gas station at 200 East 2^nd Street. It's now Arizona Indian Art.

Former Conoco gas station at 200 East 2nd Street in Winslow

Just past the former Conoco station, on the south side of East 2^nd Street, is the entrance to the extraordinary La Posada Hotel.

Entrance to La Posada in Winslow

La Posada was built in 1929-1930. It was one of the Harvey Houses, America's first hotel and restaurant chain. Harvey Houses were built by the Fred Harvey Company to serve Santa Fe Railroad passengers throughout the Southwest. Much of Route 66 runs near the old Santa Fe Railroad line, and ten Harvey Houses are still on or near Route 66. In addition to La Posada, they include Castaneda Hotel in Las Vegas, New Mexico; La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Painted Desert Inn in Petrified Forest National Park; El Tovar Hotel and Bright Angel Lodge on the Grand Canyon’s South rim; Fray Marcos de Niza Hotel and Depot in Williams, Arizona; El Garces Harvey House in Needles, California; Casa del Desierto in Barstow, California; and the Santa Fe Depot in San Bernadino, California. They’re all beautiful and worth checking out.

La Posada and all its furnishings and décor were designed by Mary Jane Colter in a Spanish Colonial style.

La Posada's lobby

Mary Jane Colter was one of America’s first female architects and designers. She spent much of her career as an architect and designer for the Fred Harvey Company. Colter was fascinated with Native American art and incorporated Spanish, Mexican, and Native American designs into her work. She is credited with introducing these styles to the American public.

In addition to La Posada, Mary Jane Colter worked on several other Harvey Houses on or near Route 66 including La Fonda in Santa Fe, the Painted Desert Inn in Petrified Forest National Park, Casa La Desierto in Barstow, California, and El Tovar Hotel and Bright Angel Lodge on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

While some of Mary Jane Colter’s 20+ projects were designing new buildings, sometimes she designed renovations of existing buildings, and sometimes she only designed a building’s furnishings and décor. She designed the china used in some of the Harvey House hotels and also on the Santa Fe Railroad’s Super Chief train running from Chicago to Los Angeles. The Super Chief china design was inspired by pottery of the ancient (circa 1100) Mimbreno Indians. In La Posada's beautiful gift shop, I bought a souvenir coffee mug with one of the ancient patterns Colter used.

Coffee mug inspired by Mary Jane Colter's china for the Super Chief

La Posada is the only hotel for which Colter designed everything: the building, its gardens, its furnishings, and its décor. It is considered her masterpiece, although I think her buildings at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim are a close second.

When we visited in Winslow in 1999, La Posada had been closed for decades and was sitting behind a fence, although some work had begun. Today it has been beautifully restored, and we splurged on a night there.

Concourse in La Posada

One side of our room in La Posada

Trains occasionally pass by (this is still an Amtrak stop), but the building is well insulated and the noise didn’t bother us at all. Our room was great. Even the bathroom sink is a work of Southwestern art!

The sink in our room at La Posada

In the morning we treated ourselves to breakfast in La Posada’s beautiful Turquoise Room.

The Turquoise Room in La Posada

Our breakfast was one of the best on our entire Route 66 road trip. We saved the huge cinnamon roll for a snack later.

Breakfast in La Posada's Turquoise Room

One last Winslow story: About half a block east of Standin’ on the Corner Park is Olde Town Grill at 108 East 2^nd Street. We had a terrific dinner there with a Tower Station IPA from Mother Road Brewing Company in Flagstaff. (Tower Station is a great historic gas station in Shamrock, Texas.)

Mother Road Brewing Company's Tower Station IPA at Olde Town Grill

But the story is about the walls of the restaurant, which have exposed bricks with money stuck in gaps in the mortar.

One of the exposed brick walls in Olde Town Grill

Our server explained that about 80-90% of their customers are Route 66 road trippers. Customers leave money in the mortar gaps and, every few days, the restaurant collects all the money, saves it in a jar, and donates it to a local charity.

That got me thinking about how a single word transformed an entire town. If Jackson Browne had used another town’s name in “Take It Easy,” Winslow might still be the somewhat down-on-its-luck town we visited in 1999—the kind of town that Route 66 travelers might drive through but not stop and visit. Today many downtown buildings are rehabilitated; a number of downtown businesses like Olde Town Grill are thriving; La Posada is open and beautifully restored; and even local charities are benefiting. If Jackson Browne can create that kind of impact--change literally hundreds of lives--with one word, imagine what each of us can do.

Believe it or not, we didn’t see everything Winslow has to offer! Winslow is one of a few towns where Route 66 was on two one-way streets. Westbound Route 66 was on 3^rd Street, and eastbound Route 66 was on 2^nd Street. There are murals, vintage motels, and a visitor center that we didn’t explore. Clearly we have to come back! But this time we moved on to our next stops, including the fascinating ruins of Two Guns, Arizona.