During the heyday of Route 66, dozens of signs along the highway encouraged travelers to visit the Jack Rabbit Trading Post at Joseph City.

Joseph City

Joseph City, 13 miles east of Holbrook, is the oldest Mormon settlement in Arizona. It  was named for Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. 

The community was  established in March 1876 as Allen's Camp. It became St. Joseph in 1878 and was then renamed Joseph City in 1923 to avoid confusion with St. Joseph, Mo. 

Joseph City has few remaining Route 66 sites. The most notable is the nearby Jack Rabbit Trading Post established in 1949 by a guy named James Taylor. He took over a former snake farm and went with a  jackrabbit theme.

The trading post promoted itself with signs as far east as Springfield, Mo., along Route 66. By the time they got to Arizona, travelers were exposed to dozens of billboards with a red jackrabbit on bright yellow billboards. 

The "Here It Is" billboard at the Jack Rabbit Trading Post has become one of the most iconic photo ops for Route 66 roadtrippers. 

The trading post at one time boasted of being the "Best known Trading Post in the Southwest."

Jack Rabbit Trading Post is operated by Cindy and Tony Jacquez. Her parents and grandparents also ran the trading post before it was bypassed by Interstate 40.

The trading post celebrated its 70th anniversary on July 6, 2019.

An old Route 66 garage is boarded up.

You'll  know you're getting close to Joseph City when you see the smokestacks of  the coal-burning Cholla Power Plant south of Interstate 40. 

Founded: 1876
Elevation: 5,043
Population: 1,465

​Next stop is Standing on a Corner of Winslow, Arizona:
http://www.ontheroadarizona.com/winslowroute66.html

An auto repair garage in Joseph City is among more 200 car-related buildings on Route 66 in Arizona, according to a 2012 survey of nearly 900 properties.

A once-faded sign has been repainted since this photo was taken in 2018.

Imagine awaiting car repairs at an old garage along Route 66.

This gas station near the old Jack Rabbit Trading Post is out of business just off Interstate 40 at Exit 269.