Local opinion: Historic Highway 80 has tremendous tourism potential

On Thursday, April 9, the Star ran a front-page story about “Iconic Route 66” marking its 100th birthday. In it, Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan described how that highway retains its special allure and status. People from all over the U.S. and other countries find nostalgic comfort staying in the historic motels lining the highway, eating in roadside restaurants dating back many decades and enjoying a slower, more pleasant mode of travel.

The irony of that article is that an equally significant highway runs through Southern Arizona. That highway is U.S. Highway 80 — also known as "The Broadway of America." Extending from Savannah, Ga., to San Diego, it was America's first all-weather coast-to-coast highway. In our area, it entered the state near Rodeo, N.M., down to Douglas, up through Lowell, into Bisbee, continuing to Tombstone, Benson, Tucson, Florence, Phoenix, Gila Bend and Yuma before entering California.

From its inception in 1926 up to 1942, U.S. Highway 80 was the only paved road carrying vehicle traffic on an east-west axis through southern Arizona. When Highway 86 (the predecessor of Interstate 10) was completed during World War II, it replaced 80 as the primary east-west route. Towns that depended on 80 faded into obscurity. Many roadside businesses withered and died.

The historic nature of Highway 80 runs deep. The concrete road constructed in 1920 between Douglas and Bisbee was the first paved highway in Arizona. Numerous now-unused segments of that highway, incorporated into Highway 80 in 1926, still exist. A few miles from Bisbee, heading towards Douglas, are the ruins of the Blue Moon, a roadhouse/cabaret where, in the 1930s, artist Ted DeGrazia took his trumpet and sat in with the band while he was a theater manager in Bisbee.

A piece of asphalt roadway from the pre-1950s alignment of U. S. Highway 80 that ran through what is now the Lavender Pit in Bisbee can still be seen across Erie Street from the restored Shell service station in historic Lowell. The remnants of long-abandoned tourist courts and other businesses still line the original alignment of Highway 80 that passed down Bisbee’s Main Street and snaked over the Mule Mountains above the current route that goes through the Mule Pass tunnel.

In Tucson, U.S. Highway 80 entered the city from the east on what is now Benson Highway, passed through downtown and then went north to Oracle Junction. Until Interstate 10 was completed and replaced it, travelers stayed at the motels and hotels and ate at the cafes and truck stops that lined both sides of the road. Many of those historic buildings still exist, often in dilapidated condition.

The reason Route 66 is a popular road trip today is due to the persistence of two brothers — Angel and Juan Delgadillo of Seligman, AZ. After Highway 66 was decertified and I-40 bypassed the town, the two refused to accept that Seligman was destined to wither and die. Through their efforts, a Route 66 Association was established in AZ, and the concept spread throughout all the states connected by the highway.

Nostalgic highway tourism became big business in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois. Dying towns bypassed by the interstate suddenly became thriving communities again, propelled by money spent on food, fuel, lodging and souvenirs by Route 66 travelers who come from as far away as Europe, Asia and Australia to take the nostalgic ride on John Steinbeck’s Mother Road.

The potential to attract travelers seeking nostalgia and scenic beauty as part of their trip through our part of the state is tremendous. They stop to eat, refuel, stay at historic lodging places. visit nearby points of interest and then go on their way. The destination for these visitors is the trip itself.

The stretch of 80 that passes through Arizona from Rodeo, N.M., to Yuma is now signed as "Historic Highway 80." but very little has been done to promote the highway itself. If two men in Seligman, AZ could kickstart a successful revival of U. S. Highway 66, why can't it happen here in Southern Arizona?