OTM eNEWS

Winter 2026

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Route 66 History Highlight in March

The Old Trails Museum is hosting a series of free Route 66 History Highlights in 2026 at the Winslow Visitors Center. On Saturday, March 21, at 5 pm, retired archaeologist Neil Weintraub will present Retracing the Epic 1928 Route 66, 3,400-Mile Bunion Derby Footrace Across Northern Arizona. Using newspaper accounts and photographs, he will highlight the days the race passed through northern Arizona, including Winslow. Seen above is winner Andy Payne—Cherokee tribal member from the Route 66 community of Foyil, Oklahoma—running near Flagstaff. Future presentations will include (Mother) Road to the Stars: Rt 66 and its Space Heritage on June 6 and a Meteor Crater program on September 12. (Photo courtesy of Pulliam Family, NAU.PH.83.2.58, NAU Cline Library, SCA #9637) Read More

OTM Debuts New Route 66 Exhibit

OTM and the Winslow Chamber of Commerce hosted a grand opening for the museum’s new exhibit, 100 Years of Route 66 in Winslow, on January 10 at the Winslow Visitors Center, which was the kick-off event for Winslow's year-long celebration of the historic highway's centennial. The printing of the exhibit—which highlights the people, businesses, and sites along the city’s stretch of the iconic highway, both yesterday and today—was funded by a grant from the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona and the installation was funded by the Winslow Chamber of Commerce. Winslow Route 66 Centennial Committee members Heather Pruett, Bob Hall, Theresa Warren, and Linda Chambers (from left) check out two of the ten exhibit panels. Read More

OTM’s Route 66 Exhibit, Calendar, & Book

The 100 Years of Route 66 in Winslow exhibit is also installed outdoors, on the south side of the 9-11 Memorial Garden Gazebo on the east end of town. Funded by the City of Winslow, the installation was coordinated by Public Works Director Tim Westover and carried out by city employees Felicia Gonzales, Frank Marriott, and Jeffrey Lawrence and ADOC inmates Kai Scott and Brad Kirby (from left). Both exhibits will be on physical display and on the OTM Website throughout 2026 and beyond. OTM’s 2026 historical calendar of the same name was drawn from the exhibit, and its printing was also funded by the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona grant. In addition, OTM’s latest Arcadia Publishing title, Past & Present: Winslow (2024), highlights properties along Winslow’s stretch of Historic Route 66. Priced at $12 and $25, respectively, both the calendar and book are available at the museum and on the OTM Online Store. Read More

100 Years of Black History Month

OTM joins in the centennial celebration of Black History Month, initiated in February 1926 to recognize the contributions that African Americans have made to the United States, and invites you to explore OTM's African Americans in Winslow: Scenes from Our History exhibit. Seen above is Ralph & Bessie’s Bar-B-Q Pit & Café, which they operated from 1950 to 1975 on East Highway 66 and is featured in the 100 Years of Route 66 in Winslow exhibit. Please contact the museum at 928-289-5861 if you would like to contribute your family's story and photos to a panel. (Photo courtesy of Clifford Renfro)

New WHS Lifetime Members

There’s still time to renew your 2026 Winslow Historical Society membership, either by check or via the OTM Online Store. The page on the OTM Website acknowledging WHS Lifetime and 2026 Benefactor and Patron members includes our latest Lifetime Members, Mark and Cindy SooHoo of Albuquerque, New Mexico, seen above right with other members of the SooHoo family when they participated in the Route 66: The Untold Story of the Women of the Mother Road program in 2022. As merchants along Route 66 in Winslow, the SooHoo family is featured in both the 100 Years of Route 66 in Winslow exhibit and calendar. WHS memberships are a reflection of OTM’s community support and the backbone of its grassroots fundraising efforts. With you, we have a future; without you, we’re history! (Photo courtesy of Lori Bentley Law)

Donate or become a member to support our mission: Founded in 1997, the Winslow Historical Society receives, preserves, and interprets information and artifacts representing the history and cultures of the Winslow area, in order to engage and enlighten all visitors to the Old Trails Museum’s exhibits and programs.