For many, the name Winslow Arizona invokes a song that you just can’t help but start to sing. A song made famous by the rock band The Eagles. For others, Winslow is just home. It’s a place they have raised their family, and a place filled with a lot of history.
We left Cottonwood early that morning and were heading to the Petrified Forest National Park. Heading East on I-40, we began to see the history unfold before us. Stops along the famed Route 66 Highway started popping up on our map. While we had not planned to make these stopes, we are always drawn in by historical places. We see markers along the road and sometimes, curiosity forces us to pull over or turn around. One such sign that caught our attention was one for the city of Winslow. We didn’t even know we were close to it, until we saw the first sign.
Winslow in History
Winslow is located in Navajo County Arizona. Sitting about 60 miles east of Flagstaff on I-40, Winslow is just south of the interstate on what use to be Route 66. In fact, Route 66 originally ran through the middle of Winslow and put Winslow on the map as a place for travelers to stop in the arid desert highlands of Arizona. In the early days, during the time of steam locomotives and the mining rush, Winslow was an important stop for passengers aboard the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It gave them time to get off the train, stretch their legs, and enjoy a cold drink or stay a night at the Harvey House, which opened in 1930. Winslow Arizona was already a landmark in its own right.
When I-40 was built north of Winslow in 1977, Route 66 became an obsolete road for commuters and Winslow began its decline. Lucky for Winslow, in 1972 a musician would release a song that mentions a time when he was stranded in Winslow Arizona in its second verse and would preserve the name of the city in the minds of Americans forever. “Take it Easy” was the name of the song and was a fitting name for the slow-paced atmosphere in Winslow.
Take It Easy in Winslow Arizona
This is exactly what we did. We drove into town, parked along the main street, and took a little historic stroll down a sidewalk in a historic little town in the desert. It’s a quiet town, and for the most part, looks and acts very much like any other “small town USA.” It’s not until you walk a few blocks to the center of town, the intersection of Route 66 and North Kinsley Avenue (Standing on The Corner Park) that you even see the reason for tourism in the town.
On all 4 corners of the Intersection, visitors can stop and be “Standing on the Corner in Winslow Arizona.” If you look across to the mural on one of the buildings, you can see “A girl my lord in a flatbed Ford,” and a large reminder of the days of Route 66 has been painted into the middle of the Intersection. Visitors could be seen in each direction, posing for a photo in the iconic intersection. Statues of Jackson Browne and Don Hensley, the co-writers of the song, stand on one corner of the intersection. I sat on a bench and watched people cross from side to side, snap a photo and then enter one of the several small souvenir shops and even the little snack shops.
There was a casual feel in the cool Autumn air. We strolled in and out of the shops in town, thumbed through all the Route 66 souvenirs and may have even sent a few back home. In one shop, a signed guitar by 5 members of the Eagles band is on display. A sign that the band members acknowledge the importance of this little town. As we headed back north towards our truck, it dawned on me that this stop was mostly accidental. We weren’t looking for Winslow and in true fashion of the nostalgia of Old Route 66, freedom of the road, curiosity, and the love of all things uncontroversial, forced us over to this little slice of fun and history.
