Arizona celebrates U.S. Route 66’s centennial

FLAG STAFF, NC – US Route 66 is celebrating 100 years since it became one of the most iconic corridors in American history.

The road stretches 2,448 miles, starting in Chicago and ending in Santa Monica, California. Although the historic highway was decommissioned in the mid-1980s, towns and states formed organizations to preserve what was left of the road.

Stretching hundreds of miles across the American Southwest, some of these otherworldly landmarks are located in Northern Arizona.

There is no doubt that Meteor Crater, considered one of the world’s best-preserved meteorite impact sites, is one of the most important cosmic stops of the route. But in the 1950s, people also reported a UFO crash in Kingman, Arizona, on the western part of the route. In the middle of Route 66 in Arizona lies Flagstaff, which locals call the gateway to the Grand Canyon and outer space.

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Before Route 66 was built, astronomer Percival Lowell moved to Flagstaff to build an observatory.

“When they look up, they see what looks like a big birthday cake on the hillside,” said Lowell Observatory historian Kevin Schindler.

Percival Lowell believed there might be life on another planet, especially Mars.

“And today we know that we have not found intelligent life on Mars. But it created awareness that there might be there,” Schindler said.

‘END OF THE ROAD’ FOR ROUTE 66

Then, in 1930, another astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, which was then considered the ninth planet.

Lowell Observatory is where astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet Pluto. (Chelsea Torres)

“And the person who discovered Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh, was born in Streator, Illinois,” Schindler said, “not that far from Route 66, and then he made his big discovery right here.”

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The observatory still has the telescope used to identify Pluto and uses it for educational purposes.

Lowell Observatory helps celebrate 100 years of Route 66. (Chelsea Torres)

NASA also headed to Flagstaff for training. In the 1960s, Apollo astronauts conducted lunar training at the Cinder Lake Crater Field, just northeast of town. NASA scientists also tested rovers and equipment using terrain north of Flagstaff as a simulation of the moon.