Photo courtesy of Twyla Taylor Wes King, a welding professor at Northland Pioneer College in Holbrook, is who created the Route 66 Shield featured on the wooden bench.
Photo courtesy of Twyla Taylor Wes King, a welding professor at Northland Pioneer College in Holbrook, is who created the Route 66 Shield featured on the wooden bench.
Photo courtesy of Twyla Taylor Andrea Romo is shown here painting the Route 66 bench before it was placed at the corner of Navajo Blvd. and Hopi Drive.
Photo courtesy of Twyla Taylor LaDanien Scott is one of the advanced welding students along with Adrian Benally and James Zimmeran that helped to create the metal shield.
Photo courtesy of Twyla Taylor Rick Taylor (pictured) built the bench that goes with the metal shield. Rick and his wife Twyla spearheaded the idea of a bench on the corner in Gillespie Park and paid for the supplies for it to be completed.”

With the celebration of the Route 66 centennial comes more spaces to enjoy and Holbrook has added a special one. Last month a Route 66 bench was added to Gillespie Park at the corner of Navajo Blvd. and Hopi Drive. The bench replaces the large sandstone rock that has the Route 66 shield that was painted on it. That rock was moved north on the hill off Navajo Blvd. as the city looks to expand beautification of the small available spaces along the route.

The bench was a project of love for residents Rick and Twyla Taylor who donated the supplies and covered the cost for the project. Twyla noted, “You can stand on the corner for only so long, but you can sit on the corner as long as you want” and plenty of visitors are doing just that. The project was completed by Rick Taylor along with Northland Pioneer College Professor Wes King with his advanced welding students LaDanien Scott, Adrian Benally and James Zimmeran. Assisting with painting the sign was Andrea Romo.

The corner is a notable point along the Route 66 drive, being one of the few 90-degree turns for the historic road.

Route 66 was established in 1926 when the U.S. Highway System was officially created and travels from Chicago, Ill. to Santa Monica, Calif. The route encouraged cross country travel with stops in small communities to make it interesting and draw in travelers including the famous Wigwam Motel and the dinosaurs at the Rainbow Rock Shop, both which remain in operation today. In 1979, Interstate 40 was created, bypassing many small towns, including Holbrook, Joseph City and Winslow. The bypass had a dramatic impact on local businesses but even today travelers come from across the globe to experience the wanderlust of traveling the Mother Road in search of not only the remnants of a past era but the new additions such as the bench that bring new celebration to taking the road less traveled.