Our Impressions of Seligman

Seligman was one of those places that surprised us. We have spent a fair amount of time traveling parts of Route 66 from Illinois to California. If you are unfamiliar, before its decommissioning in 1985 Route 66 was 2448 miles long and spanned 8 states: Illinois (301 miles), Missouri (317 miles), Kansas (13 miles), Oklahoma (432 miles), Texas (186 miles), New Mexico (400 miles), Arizona (401 miles) and California (314 miles). We have traveled bits and pieces of Route 66 in all 8 states.

Geographically, Seligman is in the northwest corner of Arizona.

What we didn’t know is that the longest remaining section of Route 66 is 160 miles long and starts in Seligman. One couple was the driving force behind keeping this stretch of Route 66 together: Angel and Vilma Delgadillo. Angel was the source of inspiration and information for the Pixar movie, Cars!

This kind of trivia we find fascinating! Seligman was well worth the stop, even for just a few hour-break from the monotonous, mind-numbing drive on I-40. You won’t be disappointed!

Two Hero Couples

These two couples believed in the small town of Seligman and the mystique of Route 66:

Angel and Vilma
Angel and Vilma Delgadillo were married in 1959 and lived their whole life in Seligman. They saw what happened when I-40 was built: Seligman and Route 66 were bypassed and business bottomed out. Because of Angel’s persistence and tenacity, the longest stretch of Route 66, 160 miles from Seligman to Topock, was preserved. Angel and Vilma have passed away, but their business, Angel and Vilma Delgadillo’s Original Route 66 Gift Shop, still survives!

Jim and Jean
Jim and Jean Pope were married in 1947. In 1964, Jim and Jean moved their family from the East Coast to California. On their way across country, they spent a night in Seligman at the Navajo Motel. They continued onto CA to live and work for 20 years. When the Popes sold their business in CA, they moved back to Seligman and bought the Navajo Motel (where the family had stayed in 20 years earlier, now called the Historic Route 66 Motel), the Historic Route 66 General Store, Route 66 Automotive and Towing, and the O.K. Saloon (now named The Roadkill Café and the O.K. Saloon).

Attractions

1860 Arizona Territorial Jail: Between the Roadkill Café and the Route 66 Automotive and Towing, there is a historic jail. It is a two-room, one-cell jail that was used in the mid-1800s to hold criminals in the high country.
Shops: There are many memorabilia shops on the two-mile stretch of Historic 66 in Seligman. All have a slightly different style or focus, but all offer t-shirts, stickers and other items relating to Route 66. These shops include:

• Angel & Vilma’s Route 66 Gift Shop (including Angel’s original barbershop chair)
• Route 66 Motorporium (lots of vintage motorcycles)
• Route 66 Hippie Cricket
• Historic Route 66 General Store
• Route 66 Road Relics
• The Rusty Bolt
• Return of the 50s
• Historic Seligman Sundries

Downtown Seligman

Seligman has one main road representing “downtown”. It is Historic Route 66. There are no parking meters! Tourism is encouraged!

Food and Drink

Roadkill Café and O.K. Saloon: Interesting kitschy restaurant with options like: Funky Skunk (jalapeno poppers), Deer Delectables (riblets), The Chicken that Almost Crossed the Road (fried chicken), Buzzard Bait (chorizo plate) and Roadkill Revenge (steak and eggs).
Westside Lilo’s: The other downtown Seligman restaurant. The fries were fresh-cut, not frozen, and the sandwiches were excellent!

Home Base: The Campground

For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Except for water, electric and sewer, rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers!

We stayed on site F3 at the KOA Journey Campground in Seligman. It is conveniently located on Historic Route 66. 30 and 50 amp service were available. The campground was clean and well-maintained. The staff were friendly. Our full hookup (water-sewer-electric) site was on level gravel. Our pull-through site was long enough to leave the Jeep hooked up and still have both vehicles off the road. There was good cell phone coverage (Verizon) and a good open southern sky for our satellite. Easy on and off I-40.

Caution: You will hear the BNSF train several times a night. The only difference between the Williams, AZ campground and the Seligman campground is that in Seligman you will only hear the train going down the tracks, not the horn blasting!

Fun Facts

In 2001, John Lasseter of Pixar extensively interviewed Angel Delgadillo about his experiences living on Route 66 and what happened to Seligman when I-40 bypassed Seligman. Angel’s memories became the inspiration for the Pixar movie Cars!

2026 Statistics

	Seligman, Arizona
Population:	731
Founded:	1886
Elevation:	5,243 ft.
Average income:	$29,135
Average price of a house:	$153,299
Average age of the population:	45 yrs.

Website: https://www.visitarizona.com/places/cities/seligman/

Summary

We were pleasantly surprised by our time in Seligman. We were glad we stopped. It was a small town trying to scratch out a living on Historic Route 66. If you are in the area, make a detour off I-40 and check out Seligman. The people who live and work in Seligman will appreciate your visit and business.

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Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!

Your partners in travel,
Kathryn and Dave
RVing Nomads

It’s a lifestyle

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• We have visited each town, attraction and restaurant we are writing about. • No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement. • AI has not been used to write any of the content of this blog. • All the photos in this blog were taken by Dave or Kathryn Harrington.