Route 66 Wednesdays; Parks, AZ

East of Williams the routing of US 66 in Arizona was absorbed largely into I-40. Between exit 171 east to exit 185 there is a large segment of US 66 north of the Interstate which can be used to access the community of Parks.

Parks was founded as one of the 1882 rail sidings of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad. Originally Parks was known Chalender and can be seen on the Third Operation Division Map of the A&P Railroad from 1882.

Third Operating Division Map of the A&P Railroad

What is really interesting in Parks is the large number of old alignments of US 66 that are abandoned in the woods. Back in 2012 I went looking for some of the old alignments of US 66 and found this particular one located east of the general store pictured above.

Even more interesting is that a graded highway is shown north of Parks almost all the way to the Grand Canyon on the 1927 Arizona State Highway Map. I believe the route in question is modern Forest Routes; 141, 144, 361 and 305.

1927 State Highway Map

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