Williams, Arizona a Great LittleTown to Visit on Route 66

Being one of the natural wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon is a magnificent site to behold. However, once you are in the immediate area, why not continue to venture onward to other local towns within the area. Within about a 50 minute ride from the Grand Canyon you can drive to the town of Williams, AZ. Williams is a laid back and rustic town, that still to this day displays many western characteristics with daily shoot out, gun fights in the early evening in the center of town.

Williams was named for Bill Williams who was a trapper and is surrounded by the Bill Williams Mountain Range, named after him. The elevation is approximately 7000 feet high so the temperatures are significantly cooler in the summer than you would normally find in areas such as Phoenix, Arizona for example. There are cool pine trees throughout the area and just an overall abundance of naturalistic beauty to view in the surrounding area. There are also many outdoor attractions, such as hiking, camping, fishing and seasonal hunting for the outdoor enthusiast. There is also the Williams Ski area for the winter season with cross country skiing as well as downhill skiing and sledding. The Kaibab National Forest which surrounds the area, has many campsites and deer, elk, bears and mountain lions can be found throughout the area. There are also many lakes within the region to be enjoyed by the avid fisherman.

As for the town of Williams, Arizona it is located on historic Route 66, where in the days of yester year you would find gambling halls, brothels,and saloons. Of course in the current day the brothels and gambling halls are gone, but there are still a number of saloons within the town that offer unique and interesting interior decor reminiscent of years gone by. There are also many shops and boutiques. Many contain souvenirs for the traveler to take back home to remember their trip to the area. However; there are some shops that have some wonderful Native American and Western art work and artifacts for the collector. On a more personal note, we have an extensive collection of fine art as well as arts and crafts within our own personal residence. We found that some of the shops in the town of Williams, contain some unique and different items than you would normally find within other towns throughout Arizona.

On a recent trip to Williams, Arizona we enjoyed an early dinner at Cruisers Cafe located in the heart of the town. They have a fairly extensive menu and the food was palatable. The prices were a little higher than we expected they would be, however one of the local shops provided us with a 10% off coupon, good for use at the restaurant. The restaurant has indoor seating reminiscent of a by gone era of the 1950's with interesting memorabilia from that time period. They also have an outdoor patio area and each table has an umbrella to block out the rays of the sun. In the evening hours they have a guitar player and cook ribs and other items on an outdoor grill. The place becomes fairly crowded in the early evening hours. We also noticed that they had a continual stream of customers coming into their establishment from lunch time throughout the dinner hours.

The town of Williams, Arizona is also the home to the Grand Canyon Railway. In the early days the railroad was built to transport ore to the wild west from the mines. In 1897 the Santa Fe and Grand Canyon Railroad Company were incorporated. The railroad was finally taken over by the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. In 1901 the track was finally completed to the Grand Canyon. In the same year of 1901 the tours began to the Grand Canyon. Throughout the years the Santa Fe Railroad built many of the structures found at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. In 1904 the Santa Fe Railroad approached the Fred Harvey Company to manage and operate the hotels and restaurants at the Grand Canyon. In 1905 the Santa Fe built their flagship hotel know as
" El Tovar " and also during that time they hired Mary Jane Colter to design many of the buildings.

Of course with the popularity of the automobile the train saw a decline in ridership and stopped service in the later part of the 1960's. In 1989 the railway was reopened by Max and Thelma Biegert . The salvage work began to rebuild the tracks as well as restoring the historic depots located at both ends of the line.
Today many visitors from around the world depart on one of the restored trains to tour the Grand Canyon.
The trains are some of the famed diesel locomotives from days gone by, each with its own unique history. In addition to wonderful trips to the Grand Canyon the railway also offers, during the winter holiday season from the middle of November until the very beginning of January, a wonderful experience for children with a trip with Santa Claus on the Polar Express.

The Grand Canyon Railway Hotel which is located next to the train depot and a few blocks from downtown Williams, Arizona offers visitors lodging in a charming old Western style, designed to resemble a century old train depot. The hotel has 287 rooms with more modern amenities. The facility also has suites available as well as standard rooms.

So in summary, whether you drive in an automobile or board one of the historic locomotives on the Grand Canyon Railway to tour the Grand Canyon, you also need to spend time in visiting the historic town of Williams, Arizona to experience the feel and ambiance of days gone by.

Some information and historic facts for this article were obtained from the web site of the Grand Canyon Railway.