Heritage Square and The Flagpole
Where the city got its name and where 100 years of Route 66 history begins.
🧭Book Your TourThe History
Heritage Square sits at the heart of downtown Flagstaff, and its winding brick path tells the city's story in plaques and monuments. The geology, the geography, the Native communities, the railroad, the Riordans, the Babbitt Brothers, Percival Lowell. Every chapter of Flagstaff starts here.
The name itself comes from a flagpole. On July 4, 1876, a group of settlers stripped a tall pine and flew a flag from it to celebrate the nation's centennial. The tree became a landmark, and the settlement became Flagstaff.
Historical Figures at This Stop
The Route 66 Story
Route 66 did not create Flagstaff. But it cemented the town's identity as a crossroads. When the highway was commissioned in 1926, it followed corridors that had been walked for centuries. How those paths converged here is a story best told standing on the square itself.
The rest of this story? You will hear it on the tour.
This Is Stop 01 of 16
on the Route 66 Walking Tour of Flagstaff.