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Beneath the fierce desert sun, a stretch of weathered pavement cuts through the mesquite and creosote near Tombstone, Arizona. No official highway signs mark this aging strip of asphalt, and modern maps show it only as a local road. Yet this humble byway once carried thousands of vehicles daily as part of U.S. Route 80—the major southern transcontinental highway that connected Savannah, Georgia to San Diego, California. Unlike its more famous counterpart Route 66, which ran across northern Arizona, Route 80 has largely faded from public consciousness despite its profound influence on southern Arizona’s development. Today it exists primarily as a ghost highway—its abandoned alignments, bypassed towns, and repurposed infrastructure standing as physical reminders of how transportation networks both create and destroy communities as technologies and travel patterns evolve.
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | U.S. Route 70 (Route 70) |
| Established | 1926 |
| Purpose | To serve as a major east-west highway connecting the southeastern United States to the Southwest, facilitating regional travel and commerce. |
| Route | – Currently runs from Atlantic, North Carolina, to Globe, Arizona. |
| – Crosses 7 states: North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. | |
| Length | Approximately 2,385 miles |
| Eastern Terminus | Atlantic, North Carolina |
| Western Terminus | Globe, Arizona |
| Major Cities Along Route | – Raleigh, NC |
| – Knoxville, TN | |
| – Nashville, TN | |
| – Memphis, TN | |
| – Little Rock, AR | |
| – Amarillo, TX | |
| – Clovis, NM | |
| – Globe, AZ | |
| Connection to Arizona | – Route 70 enters Arizona near Lordsburg, New Mexico, and passes through Safford, Pima, and Globe. |
| – Provides access to scenic areas such as the Gila River Valley and Apache Peaks. | |
| Significance | – Served as an important transportation route for commerce, agriculture, and travelers before the Interstate Highway System. |
| – Played a role in connecting rural communities to larger cities and markets. | |
| – Parts of Route 70 were used during the westward migration of the 20th century. | |
| Terrain | – Traverses a variety of landscapes, including coastal plains, Appalachian Mountains, prairies, and deserts. |
| Challenges | – Early travelers faced unpaved roads, steep grades in mountainous areas, and limited services in rural stretches. |
| Modern Status | – Portions of Route 70 have been replaced or paralleled by Interstate highways, such as I-40, I-30, and I-10. |
| – Still serves as a regional highway in many areas, particularly in rural communities. | |
| Legacy | – Remains an important part of the U.S. Highway System, connecting historic towns and cities. |
| – Sections of the road are designated as scenic byways and are popular for road trips and tourism. |
U.S. Route 80 came into official existence in 1926 as part of America’s first numbered highway system, but its roots in Arizona stretch back much further. The route incorporated portions of territorial-era wagon roads, including segments of the Southern Overland Trail used by stagecoaches and mail carriers in the 1870s. When the automobile age dawned in the early 20th century, these primitive roads were gradually improved under various designations including the Bankhead Highway and the Broadway of America—early named routes that predated the numbered system.
The highway’s Arizona section entered from New Mexico near Rodeo, continuing through Douglas, Bisbee, Tombstone, Benson, Tucson, Florence, Phoenix, Gila Bend, and Yuma before crossing into California. This alignment strategically connected southern Arizona’s major population centers and mining districts, serving communities largely bypassed by the main Southern Pacific Railroad line that followed a more direct path from Tucson to Yuma.
Construction and improvement of the route occurred in phases throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. Early segments featured oiled dirt or gravel surfaces, with paving progressing gradually as funding became available. By 1932, the entire Arizona portion had been paved, though by modern standards these improvements remained rudimentary—typically 18-20 feet wide with minimal shoulders and engineering that followed natural terrain contours rather than cutting through them.
The Great Depression paradoxically accelerated the highway’s development through various federal relief programs. Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) crews constructed bridges, drainage culverts, and roadway improvements that remain visible along abandoned segments today. The distinctive stone guardrails built by these Depression-era workers can still be seen along portions of the original route in the Mule Mountains near Bisbee.
Route 80’s completion created the first reliable all-weather connection between Arizona’s southern communities, transforming the region’s economy and settlement patterns. The “Broadway of America” nickname, while applied to several highways of the era, particularly suited Route 80’s role as the main street through numerous Arizona communities.
During its heyday from the 1930s through the 1950s, Route 80 served as the primary east-west artery across southern Arizona, creating distinctive roadside landscapes that reflected both the region’s cultural diversity and the evolution of automobile-oriented commerce.
Douglas marked the highway’s eastern gateway into Arizona. This planned community, established in 1901 as a smelter town processing ore from nearby Bisbee, developed a substantial district of hotels, restaurants, and service stations catering to international travelers entering from Mexico and interstate traffic from New Mexico. The Gadsden Hotel, opened in 1907 and rebuilt after a fire in 1929, exemplified the sophisticated accommodations available to wealthy travelers. Its marble staircase and Tiffany stained glass windows—reportedly financed by mining baron “Diamond Jim” Douglas—stood in stark contrast to the more modest tourist courts at the city’s edges that served middle-class travelers.
Bisbee presented Route 80 travelers with one of the highway’s most dramatic experiences. The road climbed steeply into the Mule Mountains, winding through a series of switchbacks and narrow passes as it entered the mining city. Unlike many communities that developed highway strips on their outskirts, Bisbee’s constrained mountain topography forced the route directly through downtown on Tombstone Canyon Road, where buildings seem to cling precariously to the steep hillsides. The highway’s path through town changed several times as engineers sought safer alternatives to the original precarious mountain route.
Tombstone, the legendary silver mining town, experienced a renaissance with the highway’s arrival. After declining significantly from its 1880s mining heyday, Tombstone reinvented itself as a tourist destination capitalizing on its Wild West history. Route 80 brought visitors directly down Allen Street past the O.K. Corral and historic district. Roadside businesses specifically oriented toward highway travelers developed along the western approach, including the now-abandoned Boothill Restaurant and souvenir shop strategically positioned near the famous cemetery.
Benson served as an important junction where Route 80 met U.S. Route 89 (connecting to Nogales and Mexico). This railroad town expanded its economic base with highway-oriented businesses, particularly focusing on the intersection of the two major routes. The Junction Service Station, now on the National Register of Historic Places, exemplifies the distinctive commercial architecture that developed to attract motorists’ attention in the competitive roadside marketplace.
Tucson saw the highway enter from the east along Benson Highway before turning north on 6th Avenue, west on Congress Street through downtown, and then northwest via Miracle Mile and Casa Grande Highway. This alignment created one of Arizona’s first major “motel rows” along Benson Highway and Miracle Mile, where dozens of motor courts displayed increasingly flamboyant neon signage and distinctive architecture to attract travelers’ attention. The Ghost Ranch Lodge, designed by Josias Joesler in 1941, exemplified the Southwestern architectural style that gave Tucson’s highway corridor a distinctive regional character.
Florence presented highway travelers with a glimpse of territorial-era Arizona. The route passed directly through the historic downtown, where 19th-century adobe and brick buildings stood alongside newer highway-oriented businesses. The town’s transition from primarily agricultural center to highway service community can still be seen in the juxtaposition of these different commercial buildings along Main Street.
Phoenix incorporated Route 80 into its rapidly expanding street system. The highway entered from the east along Van Buren Street, which developed into the city’s primary motel and restaurant corridor during the 1940s and 1950s. After passing through downtown, the route exited westward along Buckeye Road toward Gila Bend. This alignment shaped Phoenix’s initial commercial development patterns and created distinct zones of highway-oriented architecture that remained visible long after the route’s decommissioning.
Gila Bend functioned as an important highway oasis between Phoenix and Yuma. Located at the junction of Routes 80 and 84, the town developed an economy almost entirely dependent on highway travelers. The Space Age Lodge and Restaurant, with its distinctive flying saucer sign and atomic-age design, represented the playful roadside architecture that evolved to capture motorists’ attention in the competitive post-World War II travel market.
Yuma marked Route 80’s Arizona exit point. This crossing of the Colorado River had served travelers since the territorial period, first with ferries and later with a succession of increasingly substantial bridges. The Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge, completed in 1915 and later incorporated into Route 80, symbolized the era’s transcontinental transportation aspirations. Yuma’s highway corridor developed a dense concentration of motels, service stations, and restaurants catering to travelers preparing for or recovering from the challenging desert crossing between Arizona and California.
Throughout its path across southern Arizona, Route 80 created a linear corridor of distinctive commercial architecture, much of which remains visible today despite the highway’s decommissioning. Colonial Revival, Spanish Mission, and Pueblo Revival styles dominated the 1920s-30s structures, while Streamline Moderne and various expressions of roadside vernacular—including mimetic designs shaped like teepees, sombreros, or cacti—characterized later developments. This architectural legacy constitutes one of Route 80’s most significant remaining imprints on Arizona’s cultural landscape.
The life cycle of Route 80 created, sustained, and ultimately abandoned numerous communities, leaving a trail of ghost towns that chronicle the highway’s birth, prosperity, and eventual replacement by more modern transportation corridors. Unlike mining ghost towns that died when resources were depleted, these highway settlements faded when transportation patterns changed—making them particularly poignant examples of how mobility shapes human geography.
Cienega epitomizes the “pure” highway ghost town—a community that existed solely to serve Route 80 travelers and disappeared completely when traffic patterns changed. Located approximately 15 miles east of Tucson, Cienega began as a stage station on the old Butterfield Overland Mail route before evolving into a highway service center with a gas station, cafe, and small motor court. When Interstate 10 was completed in the 1960s, bypassing the site entirely, Cienega’s businesses closed almost immediately. Today, only concrete foundations and the crumbling remains of the gas station’s service bays mark the location of this once-busy highway stop.
Cochise represents the more complex story of a community that predated the highway, experienced growth during Route 80’s heyday, then declined dramatically when bypassed. Established as a Southern Pacific Railroad siding in 1886, Cochise developed as a small agricultural service center for surrounding farms and ranches. When Route 80 was designated through the settlement in 1926, Cochise expanded with highway-oriented businesses including two gas stations, a garage, cafe, and tourist cabins. After Interstate 10 was constructed five miles south in the 1970s, these businesses failed and most residents departed. Today, Cochise exists as a semi-ghost town with approximately 50 residents, its abandoned highway commercial buildings standing as reminders of Route 80’s former importance.
Dome offers perhaps the most dramatic physical remains of a Route 80 ghost town. Established where the highway crossed the Gila River near Yuma, Dome began as a construction camp for workers building irrigation canals in the early 1900s. When designated as part of Route 80, the settlement developed services for highway travelers, including a gas station and small general store. The community’s namesake—a distinctive dome-shaped volcanic formation—served as a landmark for travelers. Severe flooding in 1938 and 1941 damaged much of the settlement, and when the highway was eventually realigned to a safer crossing point, Dome was abandoned. The stone ruins of several buildings, including a gas station with remarkably intact walls, remain visible from the local road that follows the old highway alignment.
Aztec evolved from a mining camp into a highway service center before disappearing almost completely. Located between Yuma and Gila Bend, this small settlement initially served nearby gold and silver mines. When Route 80 was established through the area, Aztec’s few businesses reoriented toward highway travelers, with a roadside store and gas station operating until the 1950s. The rerouting of the highway and the mines’ depletion removed both economic supports, leading to total abandonment. Archaeological surveys have documented building foundations and artifacts related to both the mining and highway periods, but no intact structures remain above ground.
Texas Canyon developed as a tiny highway service outpost in a dramatic boulder field between Benson and Willcox. Taking advantage of the striking natural landscape that caused travelers to slow down and often stop for photographs, a small general store and gas station opened in the 1930s. A rockfall from the surrounding granite formations damaged the buildings in the 1970s, contributing to their abandonment when Interstate 10 diverted traffic. The picturesque site is now home to “The Thing,” a roadside attraction that draws travelers off the interstate, creating the unusual situation of a new highway-oriented business operating amidst the ruins of an earlier highway era.
Ligurta illustrates how even the smallest highway settlements leave archaeological traces. Little more than a single service station, cafe, and auto repair shop located between Yuma and Gila Bend, Ligurta served travelers crossing this desolate stretch in the days before air conditioning made desert driving more tolerable. The settlement appeared on Arizona highway maps from 1935 through 1954 before disappearing when an improved alignment of Route 80 bypassed it. Recent archaeological investigations have documented the site’s features, including the distinctive rock-bordered pathways and garden areas that the proprietors created to make this desert stop more appealing to weary travelers.
These ghost towns—ranging from substantially intact ruins to archaeological sites marked only by foundations—collectively document the complex relationship between transportation networks and human settlement patterns. Their stories reveal how communities adapt to changing mobility technologies, sometimes successfully transitioning to new economic models but often fading into the landscape when the flow of movement that sustained them shifts to other channels.
Route 80’s relationship with railroads profoundly shaped its development and the communities along its path. Unlike Route 66 in northern Arizona, which generally paralleled the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Route 80 had a more complex interaction with multiple rail lines operated by the Southern Pacific.
In southeastern Arizona, the highway followed the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad (later absorbed by Southern Pacific) through Douglas, Bisbee, and Tombstone—communities initially established to serve the mining industry. This portion of Route 80 connected towns that had developed during the railroad era but lacked direct rail connections to major markets. Tombstone, for instance, never secured a main line railroad, instead relying on a spur line from Fairbank. When this spur was abandoned in the 1930s, Route 80 became the community’s lifeline, fundamentally shifting its orientation from rail to highway.
Between Tucson and Phoenix, the highway and Southern Pacific main line diverged significantly. The railroad followed a more westerly route through Casa Grande and Maricopa, while Route 80 took a more northerly path through Florence. This divergence created opportunities for previously isolated communities to develop highway-oriented economies distinct from the railroad towns that had dominated the territorial period.
West of Phoenix, the highway and railroad again converged, both following the Gila River valley through Gila Bend to Yuma. This shared corridor created distinctive landscapes where rail and highway infrastructure existed in close proximity, sometimes literally side by side. In Gila Bend, the railroad depot and Route 80 businesses developed as an integrated transportation district, with travelers often transferring between modes.
This complex relationship between rail and highway remains visible in the landscape today. In some locations, abandoned segments of both transportation systems exist side by side—parallel ghost infrastructures that document the technological transition from rail to automobile dominance. The Phoenix-Casa Grande highway, a portion of Route 80 that roughly paralleled the railroad, features several locations where both abandoned railroad sidings and bypassed highway segments can be observed in proximity, creating a layered transportation palimpsest.
The railroad connection also manifests in adaptive reuse patterns. In several communities, railroad infrastructure was repurposed for highway-related functions as rail service declined. The Douglas railroad station was converted to a bus depot serving intercity routes that followed Highway 80. In Tucson, former railroad hotels like the Congress reoriented toward automobile travelers when the highway was routed past their front doors.
As both rail and highway systems evolved, their operational needs diverged. Railroads consolidated facilities and reduced passenger service, while highways required wider rights-of-way and limited access designs to safely handle increasing traffic volumes and speeds. The interstate system, with its controlled access and grade-separated crossings, needed more separation from rail lines than the older highways had maintained.
This technological divergence physically manifests in the landscape today. In many locations, three distinct transportation layers can be observed: the railroad (still active for freight), the abandoned Route 80 alignment (now a ghost highway), and Interstate 10 or 8 (the current primary corridor). This transportation palimpsest reveals how evolving technologies remake the landscape while following the same general corridors determined by geography.
Route 80’s decline as a continuous transcontinental highway began in the 1950s, though the process of its dismantling and replacement stretched over several decades. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which created the Interstate Highway System, effectively signed the highway’s death warrant by authorizing a limited-access, controlled environment replacement designed for higher speeds and traffic volumes.
Across Arizona, Interstates 10 and 8 progressively replaced Route 80 between 1957 and 1977. Construction proceeded in segments, creating a patchwork of old and new highways during the transition period. This incremental replacement created the unusual phenomenon of “orphaned” sections—portions of the old highway that remained in official use with their U.S. 80 designation even as the route’s continuity was broken by completed interstate segments.
The impact on Route 80 communities varied dramatically based on their proximity to interstate exits. Towns like Tucson and Phoenix, which secured multiple interchanges, adapted successfully to the new transportation pattern. Communities bypassed by several miles, like Tombstone, experienced significant economic contractions as traffic—and the businesses it supported—disappeared almost overnight.
By 1977, the Arizona segments of Route 80 had been completely bypassed by the interstate system. In 1989, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials officially decommissioned the Arizona portions of U.S. Route 80, removing its designation from the federal highway system. The highway shields were removed, and maintenance responsibilities shifted to state, county, or local governments with varying resources and commitment to preserving the historic route.
The physical abandonment followed different patterns across Arizona. Some segments were incorporated into the state highway system under different designations, such as Arizona State Route 80 between Benson and Douglas. Others became county or local roads with minimal maintenance. The most remote portions were completely abandoned, with access blocked and maintenance ceased. These abandoned segments began a slow return to nature, with desert vegetation gradually reclaiming the asphalt.
Perhaps the most visually dramatic abandonment occurred in the Mule Mountains near Bisbee, where the original winding mountain route was replaced by a straighter, safer alignment in the 1950s, and then by Interstate 10 on a completely different path. This created multiple layers of ghost highway, with the earliest route now existing as a crumbling, partially washed-out track visible from the later alignments.
What makes Route 80’s abandonment particularly significant is how completely it has faded from public consciousness compared to Route 66. Despite serving as a major transcontinental highway for decades and profoundly shaping southern Arizona’s development, Route 80 has received comparatively little commemoration or preservation attention. This amnesia makes its physical remnants—the ghost highway segments and associated structures—all the more valuable as historical documents of this overlooked transportation corridor.
Despite Route 80’s relative obscurity compared to Route 66, growing recognition of its historical significance has sparked preservation efforts in recent decades. These initiatives focus on documenting, protecting, and interpreting the remaining segments of this pioneer highway and its associated structures.
The Southern Arizona U.S. Route 80 Historic Highway Association, founded in 2008, has led grassroots efforts to document and preserve the route’s history. Their advocacy secured Arizona Historic Highway designation for portions of the former route between Douglas and Tombstone in 2018, creating new opportunities for heritage tourism along this corridor. The organization maintains detailed maps of surviving alignments and conducts regular tours of significant sites along the former highway.
Archaeological approaches have emerged as important preservation tools for documenting the highway’s physical remains before they disappear completely. The Arizona Department of Transportation’s Historic Highway Context Study, completed in 2011, systematically inventoried surviving roadside architecture, bridges, culverts, and abandoned segments associated with Route 80. This effort identified particularly significant features for targeted preservation, including the 1929 Gila River Bridge near Florence and numerous examples of Depression-era infrastructure constructed by the Works Progress Administration.
Adaptive reuse has proven the most successful preservation model for Route 80’s built environment. The Gadsden Hotel in Douglas, after years of decline, has been carefully restored to its historical appearance while continuing to serve travelers. The Hotel Congress in Tucson has transformed from a railroad/highway hotel into a popular entertainment venue and boutique accommodation. And the Space Age Lodge in Gila Bend continues operating as a Best Western hotel while maintaining its distinctive mid-century signage and architectural elements.
Digital preservation initiatives have created virtual archives of Route 80 history even as physical remnants deteriorate. The Arizona Memory Project has digitized hundreds of photographs, postcards, and documents related to the highway. The Vail Preservation Society maintains an oral history collection featuring interviews with people who lived and worked along the route during its heyday. And the Arizona Historical Society has created detailed digital maps showing the highway’s changing alignments over time.
Several museums along the former route preserve the material culture and stories of the Route 80 era. The Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum includes exhibits on the highway’s impact on the mining community. The Pima County Historical Museum in Tucson maintains a collection of roadside business artifacts and promotional materials. And the Douglas Historical Society has created a detailed exhibit documenting the highway’s role in the community’s development.
Despite these efforts, significant preservation challenges remain. Development pressures threaten surviving segments and structures, particularly near expanding urban areas like Tucson and Phoenix. Natural processes continue to degrade abandoned portions through erosion, flooding, and vegetation growth. And limited public awareness constrains the resources available for comprehensive preservation.
Renewed interest in heritage tourism has created some economic incentives for Route 80 preservation. Communities like Tombstone that initially suffered from the highway’s decommissioning have found new vitality by marketing their historical connections to automobile travelers willing to venture off the interstate. The Arizona Office of Tourism has incorporated former Route 80 communities into regional tourism corridors like the “Cochise County Circle” that encourage visitors to explore beyond the interstate system.
While Route 80 may never achieve the iconic status of Route 66 in popular culture, these multifaceted preservation efforts ensure that its historical significance will not be entirely lost to future generations. The ghost highway segments, repurposed buildings, and digital archives collectively maintain a record of this crucial transportation corridor that helped shape modern Arizona.
Beyond the asphalt, steel, and concrete that constituted its physical form, Route 80 represents a profoundly human story—one written by the millions of individuals who built, maintained, traveled, and lived along this pioneering highway. Their experiences, preserved in diaries, photographs, oral histories, and material artifacts, reveal the human dimension of the “Broadway of America.”
Road builders faced immense challenges constructing and maintaining the original highway across Arizona’s diverse terrain. Work crews—often including local Native Americans, Mexican-American laborers, and Anglo supervisors—used primitive equipment like mule-drawn scrapers, picks, and shovels to carve the roadway through deserts, mountains, and river crossings. Veterans of the Arizona Highway Department recalled spending entire summers living in remote camps as they reconstructed sections damaged by the fierce desert monsoons that periodically washed out bridges and roadbeds.
Manuel Escalante, who worked on highway maintenance between Tucson and Benson from 1931 to 1957, described the physically demanding nature of early road work in an oral history recorded in 1978: “Before the machines came, everything was by hand—shoveling gravel, mixing concrete, setting forms for culverts. During summer, we worked at night when possible because the asphalt would burn through your boots in the midday sun. Most crews were Mexican-American men from nearby towns, though the bosses were usually Anglos. We took pride in our work, knowing we were building something important that connected our communities to the wider world.”
The highway spawned distinctive roadside businesses that defined American automotive culture for generations. The Garcia family of Benson exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit that characterized Route 80. Luis Garcia opened El Rey Motel in 1939, built primarily with his own hands using adobe bricks made on-site. The modest eight-unit property expanded to twenty units by 1950 as traffic increased. His wife Maria prepared home-cooked Mexican food for guests in their attached café, creating one of the first authentic Mexican restaurants aimed at Anglo travelers in southern Arizona. Their daughter Carmen recalled: “My father insisted on neon signs in both English and Spanish. He said, ‘American dollars spend the same whether they come from Anglo or Mexican pockets.’ Many people told him tourists wouldn’t stay at a place with a Spanish name, but he proved them wrong by offering clean rooms, good food, and fair prices.”
For the Tohono O’odham, Pascua Yaqui, and other Indigenous peoples whose territories the highway crossed, Route 80 represented a complex intrusion. While bringing economic opportunities through tourism and craft sales, the route also accelerated cultural changes and brought thousands of outsiders through traditional lands. Tohono O’odham artisans established roadside stands near Sells where they sold baskets and pottery to highway travelers, creating an economic niche that helped sustain traditional crafts through difficult economic periods. However, the highway also facilitated resource extraction from tribal lands and brought increased legal and illegal border crossings that complicated reservation life.
Route 80 witnessed the full diversity of American society in motion. During the Dust Bowl migration, an estimated 65,000 people traveled the highway to California, many choosing the southern route through Arizona for its milder winter weather. The Green Book, a travel guide for African American motorists, listed safe accommodations along Route 80 in an era when racial discrimination made travel hazardous for minorities. The Southern Arizona entries were limited to a handful of establishments in Tucson and Phoenix, illustrating the additional challenges Black travelers faced in navigating the region.
The highway also played a crucial role in the region’s military history. During World War II, convoys regularly transported personnel and equipment between training facilities in Texas and California. Fort Huachuca, located near the highway, processed thousands of soldiers including members of the segregated “Buffalo Soldier” regiments. Route 80 facilitated this movement while also bringing USO entertainers and other morale-boosting activities to isolated desert bases.
These human stories transform Route 80 from a mere transportation route into a complex cultural corridor where millions of individual journeys contributed to a collective American experience that continues to resonate decades after the official highway ceased to exist.
For modern explorers interested in experiencing the ghost of Route 80 firsthand, several accessible segments and associated sites offer authentic connections to this pioneering highway. While comprehensive travel of the entire historic route would require significant research and off-road capabilities, these highlights provide meaningful glimpses into early automotive travel across southern Arizona:
This southeastern segment includes well-preserved portions of 1930s-era alignment now designated as Arizona State Route 80. The Mule Pass Tunnel, completed in 1952, and the earlier switchback route over the mountains both remain accessible, allowing visitors to experience both the original challenging path and its modernized replacement. The Gadsden Hotel in Douglas and the Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee offer historically authentic accommodations at either end of this segment.
The highway corridor between these communities includes numerous abandoned businesses that once served Route 80 travelers. The ghost town of Fairbank, located just off the highway, provides insight into the pre-automobile transportation era when the railroad dominated this corridor. Interpretive signs explain how transportation networks shaped settlement patterns throughout the region.
These urban segments feature one of Arizona’s highest concentrations of mid-20th century roadside architecture. Though many buildings have been repurposed, their distinctive designs—with projecting rooflines, neon signage, and courtyard layouts—clearly identify them as products of the highway era. The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation offers self-guided tour materials highlighting significant structures along these corridors.
This corridor includes several bypassed segments where the original highway alignment now serves as a local farm road. The 1929 Gila River Bridge at Florence, recently rehabilitated, represents one of the most significant engineering structures from the early highway era. Driving this segment allows visitors to experience the transition from rural agricultural landscapes to increasingly urban environments that characterized the original Route 80 journey.
The most remote section of the former highway includes substantial abandoned segments visible from Interstate 8, which largely parallels the historic route. The Mohawk Pass section features original concrete paving dating to 1931, among the oldest surviving road surfaces on the former route. The Stoval Siding archaeological site includes remains of a highway service station alongside a railroad siding, illustrating the integrated transportation landscape that once existed.
For preservation-minded explorers, ethical considerations should guide any visit to abandoned segments. Staying on established paths, leaving artifacts in place, and practicing Leave No Trace principles helps ensure these fragile remnants will survive for future generations to experience. Many segments cross private property, so securing appropriate permissions is essential for both legal and ethical exploration.
The Southern Arizona U.S. Route 80 Historic Highway Association publishes detailed guides to surviving segments, including GPS coordinates for navigating confusing junctions where the old highway diverges from modern roads. Their website includes suggested itineraries ranging from day trips focusing on specific segments to comprehensive multi-day explorations of the entire Arizona portion of the former transcontinental route.
For those seeking a more accessible experience, the Arizona Heritage Traveler program has developed a “Historic Route 80” driving tour that follows publicly accessible portions of the old highway while incorporating significant heritage sites along the corridor. This self-guided tour includes detailed maps and interpretive materials explaining how the highway shaped the communities it connected.
As Interstate 10 thunders across southern Arizona today, few travelers realize they are following essentially the same path pioneered by Route 80 nearly a century earlier. Yet the ghost of this earlier highway—visible in abandoned alignments, repurposed buildings, and settlement patterns—continues to influence movement through the region long after its official designation vanished from maps.
The most enduring legacy of Route 80 may be the communities it helped establish or transform. Unlike the more famous Route 66, which created many towns that later became ghost towns when bypassed, Route 80 primarily connected pre-existing settlements that had sufficient economic foundations to survive the highway’s decommissioning, albeit often in reduced form. Bisbee transformed from mining center to artist community, Tombstone embraced its Wild West heritage for tourism, and Gila Bend adapted to serve interstate travelers. These communities demonstrate remarkable resilience in adapting to changing transportation patterns.
Route 80’s physical infrastructure continues to shape mobility across southern Arizona. County roads, local highways, and urban arterials that follow the historic alignment still carry thousands of vehicles daily, though few drivers recognize they are traveling a pioneer highway. The route’s careful engineering—following natural contours, avoiding flood-prone areas, and maintaining reasonable grades—created a corridor so logical that modern transportation planners repeatedly chose to follow it, even when designing completely new systems.
The highway’s material culture persists in adaptive reuse throughout the corridor. Former gas stations have become restaurants, motels have transformed into apartments or offices, and roadside attractions have found new purposes as unique local businesses. This recycling of the built environment maintains tangible connections to the highway era while allowing structures to evolve for contemporary needs.
Perhaps most significantly, Route 80 helped solidify southern Arizona’s connection to California and the broader Southwest, creating cultural and economic linkages that persist today. The highway facilitated migration patterns, business relationships, and social networks that continue to shape regional identity and integration. Archaeological studies of trash deposits along abandoned segments reveal the early stages of national product distribution systems that would eventually create standardized consumer experiences across the American landscape.
Route 80’s story offers valuable perspective on contemporary transportation debates. As Arizona communities consider high-speed rail, expanded interstate capacity, and alternative transportation modes, the ghost highway reminds us that even the most essential infrastructure can become obsolete when technologies and travel patterns evolve. Yet it also demonstrates how transportation corridors, once established, tend to persist through technological transitions—reshaping themselves rather than disappearing entirely.
As the sun sets over the desert near Gila Bend, casting long shadows across an abandoned segment of Route 80 that parallels Interstate 8, the connection between past and present becomes palpable. Modern trucks thunder past on the interstate, following essentially the same path as the early automobiles that navigated the narrow two-lane “Broadway of America” a century ago. The ghost highway may have faded from maps and memory, but its imprint on the landscape remains—a physical reminder of how transportation networks shape human geography through cycles of creation, use, and abandonment.