Route 66

Route 66. Gateway to the Grand Canyon. , 1925 - Williams had two car camps to service travellers along Route 66 and those going to the Grand Canyon. A car camp consisted of cabins that served as both a garage and sleeping quarters. , 1936 - An early gas station on Route 66 after a snowfall. This building was originally a store front that was converted to a gas station. It became a parts store and was later refurbished and opened as a restaurant., 1938 - A view of downtown Williams on Route 66 looking east from the northwest corner of 3rd Street. , 1940 - The Sultana Movie Theater located on Route 66., 1940 - Route 66 through downtown Williams from 2nd Street looking east., Route 66 was commissioned by the Federal Highway Administration on November 11, 1926. It stretched 2,451 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles (Santa Monica). The last link of Interstate 40 opened at Williams on October 13th, 1984. For all practical purposes this was the demise of Route 66. It truly became historic on June 27th, 1985 when the Federal Highway Administration decommissioned it., Williams' Gateway Arches, The first arch on Grand Canyon Boulevard was constructed as a community project in 2009. The Arizona State Railroad Museum, City of Williams, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Grand Canyon Railway, Arizona Public Service, and Arizona Department of Transportation all contributed to the project. The second arch over East Route 66 again became a community project through the generosity of an anonymous donor in 2013, and involved the Arizona State Railroad Museum, City of Williams, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Grand Canyon Railway, and various contractors. Contributions by City of Williams staff and talented employees were critical to the success of the project. The arches are constructed utilizing four 100-year old Santa Fe Railway cantilever signal structures that BNSF donated to the Museum. These structures held signal lights that regulated train movements in Arizona and New Mexico districts on the Santa Fe and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads until replaced by more modern signals and communications., 2013 - The center span between the two cantilevers is about 20 feet on the gateway over Route 66, compared to about 12 feet on the original over Grand Canyon Boulevard., 2013 - Workers installing the gateway's cantilevers.,