Twin Arrows namesake gets a face-lift

The famed giant arrows at the defunct Twin Arrows Trading Post east of Flagstaff, Ariz., recently were refurbished after years of deterioration and neglect.

Longtime roadie Carol Major reported a few days ago to the Route 66 yahoogroup:

… On my 66 trip from Topock to Oklahoma City last week, I went by Twin Arrows Trading Post and noticed some workers fixing up the arrows! I stopped and talked to Reggie Fauser, who said they were getting the place ready for a 66 event coming up in the next few weeks. I’ll post some pictures if I can . . . I was really excited to see the arrows like they were brand-new again!

Major sent me photos of the workers laboring over those big arrows. The arrows obviously were repainted, and the fletching, which had fallen off at least one of the arrows, had been rebuilt. This photo shows how bad the arrows looked before the recent intervention.

An agreement was struck between the state and the Hopi Indian tribe last year to eventually reinvigorate the property, and it’s thrilling there finally seems to be activity. The Route 66 festival in Flagstaff has a preservation work day scheduled at the site next month; maybe the Twin Arrows buildings will get some TLC as well.

According to Russell Olsen’s “Route 66 Lost and Found,” the Twin Arrows complex started as the Canyon Padre Trading Post about 1949. It became Twin Arrows Trading Post during the 1950s, and the 20-foot-high arrows were erected near the main buildings. It closed in the late 1990s.

(Photos courtesy of Carol Major)

7 thoughts on “Twin Arrows namesake gets a face-lift

  1. I saw the yellow bucket truck in the picture parked on site a couple weeks ago, so I figured something was up with the arrows, but I thought they might be waiting for the “work day” on September 11.

    Looks good so far – hope to be there to help a bit on the 11th.

  2. Fantastic news! I took one of the shots you featured above, and was heartsick when I saw how badly deteriorated the site was (That was in March 2008). Here’s hoping the trading post/diner can get some love next.

  3. Great news, we have seen the Arrows in 2005. I hope we could make a trip soon to the “new” Twin Arrows.
    I would like to help restoring Route 66 icons, but it is a little bit difficult because we live in the Netherlands.

  4. Hopefully restoring the arrows, is just the beginning of that whole property. I was through there in May this year. I’m a tremendous fan of route 66. I would absolutely love to see the TwinArrows Trading Post, The adjacent diner, and the old gas station renovated to its route 66 contdition.

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