HistoricAZ66: Flagstaff - Barker Village Traditional Geocache
HistoricAZ66: Flagstaff - Barker Village
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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This Historic Cache placed with the kind permission of the City of Flagstaff.
Revised as HistoricAZ66 Barker Village 8/14/12 A HUGE Thank You to 3inFlag for the opportunity.
Please be gentle when removing the cache (if you think you've found it, please read the hint before removing). Log retrieval tool recommended.
Photo courtesy of Cline Library, Special Collections
Barker Village,
Barker Hotel
The 1921 alignment of Route 66 entered the Flagstaff area at Camp Townsend and the junction of US Highway 89. This route was a popular road for tourists traveling north to the Grand Canyon and some motorists traveling 66, say west-bound, would reach this junction at Camp Townsend and turn north to visit the Grand Canyon and then re-join US Highway 66 in Williams, Arizona, thus circumventing Flagstaff. East-bound travelers could take the same route in reverse. Since a road already existed between Flagstaff and Walnut Canyon National Monument, Flagstaff business interests funded an extension of that road east to join US Highway 66 at Winona in 1947.
This new Route 66 shortened the drive into Flagstaff and ensured that travelers at a minimum reached East Flagstaff before they could go to the Grand Canyon. One of the first establishments they would see when traveling west was Barker Village which occupied the area from Fanning to Starlite Lanes (Park Sante Fe Shopping Center).
The area had several small rental cabins, a gas station, auto repair and a hotel. At one time it even had a fox farm that was run by Roy Fanning, the furs were harvested in the late fall when the fox were in full winter coats. A lot of the property was owned by Jess and Bess Siler which Siler Homes is named after and their daughter and son in law Walt and Marj McDonald built the Starlite Lanes bowling alley on a portion of the property.
So sit back and try and picture the Barker Village Restaurant where Sizzler is and the Barker Hotel where Taco Bell is and those days gone by.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cyrnfr fperj gur gbc bss engure guna chyyvat gur ragver pbagnvare bhg. Vs lbh qvfybqtr gur pnpur pbagnvare, cyrnfr ercynpr nf sbhaq. Gunaxf!