The Route 66 Centennial in Flagstaff
The Mother Road turns 100 on November 11, 2026. There is no better place to mark it than a town where Route 66 is still the main street.
Book the Centennial WalkWhy Flagstaff Is a Centennial Anchor
Most Route 66 towns preserve a fragment of the old road. Flagstaff kept the whole thing in service. Both the original 1926 alignment and the 1934 reroute still run through downtown, past buildings that were already standing when the highway got its number.
That makes the centennial different here. You are not commemorating a road that disappeared. You are walking one that never left, past the depot that turns 100 alongside it, the neon that survived the sign wars, and the blocks where the Mother Road's full story, including the chapters most tours skip, actually happened.
The Centennial Year
November 11, 1926
The Road Is Born
Route 66 is officially commissioned, threading 2,400 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica, straight through downtown Flagstaff.
June 6, 2026
Flagstaff's Centennial Celebration
Flagstaff marked its citywide Route 66 Centennial day with community events and historical programming, and centennial energy carries through the rest of the year.
Through 2026
Fun Run and the Great Race
The Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona's annual Fun Run brings hundreds of vintage cars up the Mother Road, and the Great Race follows Route 66 for the centennial, passing through northern Arizona's Route 66 towns.
November 11, 2026
The Mother Road Turns 100
The official 100th anniversary of Route 66. In Flagstaff you can spend it standing on the original alignment, because here the old road never stopped being the road.
How to Experience It
Walk it. The Centennial Edition of our Route 66 Walking Tour covers 16 stops along both alignments in 90 minutes, researched by published historian Susan Johnson and funded in part by a grant from the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona.
Exploring on your own? Start with our things to do on Route 66 guide, find the photo spots in the Route 66 signs and neon guide, or browse all 16 landmarks.
Once in a Century
The road only turns 100 once. Walk it while the year lasts.