Snow Cap Drive-In, Historic US 66, Seligman, AZ (4)
**Seligman Commercial Historic District** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 04000511, date listed 2/1/2005
Roughly bounded by First and Lamport Sts, and Picacho and Railroad Aves.
Seligman, AZ (Yavapai County)
The Seligman district was constructed during a sixty-year period that began in 1903 and ended in 1963.
The importance of Main Street was reaffirmed when the Old Trails Highway, the first true transcontinental roadway through northern Arizona, was routed through Seligman in the 1910s. This same route gained additional status when the federal government made it part of U.S. Route 66 in 1926 (Cteeland 1988; Ryden 1996). Construction activity in the commercial district from the 1910s through early 1930s followed this path.
Route 66 moved from Railroad Avenue to Chino Street in 1933. Commercial buildings constructed around or after that date increasingly showed an orientation to the automobile. Buildings in the "roadside architecture" style used innovative features to lure motorists and capture their dollars Such features were designed to convey an instantaneous impression of modernism, cleanliness, safety, and convenience.
The beginning of the end for Route 66 came in 1956, when Congress passed the Interstate Highway Bill authorizing construction of a new road network linking major metropolitan areas. The new highway system bypassed small towns in an effort to make travel across the states faster. Although it would be 18 more years until Seligman met the same fate, all new commercial construction in its downtown would cease in 1963. After that date, construction of business estabiishments shifted to sites east and west of downtown where Route 66 would eventually connect with the interstate. (1)
Snow Cap Drive-In
This is a "mom and pop" Route 66 Café that used an eye catching parapet on the roof with ice cream cones. It was built in 1953 by Juan Delgadillo and his family. He became part of the Snow Cap Drive-In chain of Prescott Arizona and sold their ice creams until the company went broke in 1997. Juan negotiated with them and became owner of the name, the last Snow Cap in operation. (2)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/04000511.pdf
(2) The Route-66 www.theroute-66.com/seligman.html
Snow Cap Drive-In, Historic US 66, Seligman, AZ (4)
**Seligman Commercial Historic District** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 04000511, date listed 2/1/2005
Roughly bounded by First and Lamport Sts, and Picacho and Railroad Aves.
Seligman, AZ (Yavapai County)
The Seligman district was constructed during a sixty-year period that began in 1903 and ended in 1963.
The importance of Main Street was reaffirmed when the Old Trails Highway, the first true transcontinental roadway through northern Arizona, was routed through Seligman in the 1910s. This same route gained additional status when the federal government made it part of U.S. Route 66 in 1926 (Cteeland 1988; Ryden 1996). Construction activity in the commercial district from the 1910s through early 1930s followed this path.
Route 66 moved from Railroad Avenue to Chino Street in 1933. Commercial buildings constructed around or after that date increasingly showed an orientation to the automobile. Buildings in the "roadside architecture" style used innovative features to lure motorists and capture their dollars Such features were designed to convey an instantaneous impression of modernism, cleanliness, safety, and convenience.
The beginning of the end for Route 66 came in 1956, when Congress passed the Interstate Highway Bill authorizing construction of a new road network linking major metropolitan areas. The new highway system bypassed small towns in an effort to make travel across the states faster. Although it would be 18 more years until Seligman met the same fate, all new commercial construction in its downtown would cease in 1963. After that date, construction of business estabiishments shifted to sites east and west of downtown where Route 66 would eventually connect with the interstate. (1)
Snow Cap Drive-In
This is a "mom and pop" Route 66 Café that used an eye catching parapet on the roof with ice cream cones. It was built in 1953 by Juan Delgadillo and his family. He became part of the Snow Cap Drive-In chain of Prescott Arizona and sold their ice creams until the company went broke in 1997. Juan negotiated with them and became owner of the name, the last Snow Cap in operation. (2)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/04000511.pdf
(2) The Route-66 www.theroute-66.com/seligman.html