Holbrook

Holbrook's most notable Route 66 landmark is  the Wigwam Motel, the sixth of seven teepee-themed lodges built across the country. But the town has  other gems of the Route 66 era from 1926 to 1978 when Interstate 40 replaced the Mother Road.

Holbrook has historic, unrestored stone buildings south of the railroad depot, a filling station (see below) hidden in the weeds and the Plainsman coffee shop.  The closed restaurant occupied a midcentury modern building that doesn't match its frontiersman theme.

Chester Lewis built the Wigwam Motel in 1950 after visiting Cave City, Ky., where architect Frank Redford built the original in 1938. The Wigwam  had radios that charged guests a dime to connect to the airwaves.

Lewis paid that revenue to Redford in exchange for the rights to  the Wigwam concept. Lewis sold the Wigwam in the 1970s but his family bought it back in 1988 after his death. The other remaining Wigwam motels are in Cave City and San Bernadino, Calif. 

Joe & Aggies's Cafe has been serving locals and travelers since 1943 in a pink building at the center to town. 

The 1956 Globetrotter Lodge on Route 66 originally was the Sun n' Sand motel. The Globetrotter was a popular independent motel until recently but is  now closed. Several other vintage motels in Holbrook have given way to chain motels near Interstate 40. 

Founded: 1881
Elevation: 5,069
Population: 5,067

This steakhouse has seen better days. Pigeons are welcome in the sign.

Go west to Joseph City:
http://www.ontheroadarizona.com/josephcity66.html

A classic Buick and Studebaker are part of the decor at Holbrook's 1950 Wigwam Motel, one of seven tepee-theme hotels.

Wigwam Motel looked barren in this 1979 photo, a year after Interstate 40 bypassed Holbrook. (Photo by John Margolies/Library of Congress)

Chester Lewis saw the original Wigwam Motel in Cave City, Ky., designed by Frank Redford, and decided to build one on Route 66 in Arizona.

The Plainsman opened on Route 66 in 1966, the same year as a film of the same name. It's been closed for years but the sign is a traffic-stopper for neon geeks.

The midcentury modern Sahara Inn began as a Whiting Bros. Motor Hotel.

Joe & Aggie's has been a fixture here since 1943 but has closed.

This muffler shop east of the Wigwam Motel was originally part of the popular Forest Cafe and Motel on Route 66.

A vintage Whiting Bros. filling station with fluted wooden posts is falling into ruin on the east side of Holbrook.

Dairy Queen still has an old style blue and white neon sign in Holbrook.

Pow Wow Trading Post has added herbal ventures to its towering sign.