Angel Delgadillo, known as the “Guardian Angel of Route 66,” today will receive his own exhibit about his impact on the Mother Road at the Kingman Visitor Center in Kingman, Arizona.
The opening day for the exhibit is after 1 p.m. local time today. The exhibit is free to the public on the second floor in the Kingman Visitor Center at 120 W. Andy Devine Ave. (aka Route 66) in Kingman. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
According to a news release from the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona:
The exhibit was created to house a Storyfile of Angel. Storyfile is an interactive multimedia display visitors can use to ask a virtual Angel questions about Route 66 and his life, and he responds in real time.
The Exhibit was designed by Wade Bray, a graphic designer who previously composed an impressive Route 66 themed exhibition at the Route 66 Road Fest hosted in Tulsa Oklahoma. In Kingman,
visitors will enjoy historic photos, read about Angel’s family, and sit for a memorable selfie in a vintage barber chair just like one in Angel’s original barber shop.“We really wanted the exhibit to be the next best thing to visiting Angel’s Barbershop and Gift Shop in Seligman and meeting Angel in person. We hope the exhibit helps more visitors get the ’Angel Experience’ where visitors leave touched and inspired by this unique experience highlighting a one of a kind individual” says Nikki Seegers with the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona.
After his hometown of Seligman was bypassed and seemingly abandoned by Interstate 40, Delgadillo tirelessly lobbied the state to designate old Route 66 from Seligman to Kingman as a historic highway.
He shepherded the formation of the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona in 1987, then the Arizona Route 66 Fun Run a year later.
He and his barber shop, which was partly converted into Angel and Vilma’s Original Route 66 Gift Shop, have become destinations for Route 66 travelers from all over the world. He regularly greets tourists even though he’s 96 years old.
(Image of Angel Delgadillo courtesy of the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona)
I’m so happy to see this happen so future travelers of Route 66 know who he was and what he did to save the town of Seligman and the mother road. I’m so glad to have met him and gotten a shave from him. Awesome guy!