# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DdSSw3Wj4vN
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70597345-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c381497b84.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-14T23:15:25.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

Winslow got bypassed by a freeway, then rebuilt part of its downtown around a song it had nothing to do with.

For decades, Winslow ran on two things: the Santa Fe Railroad and Route 66.

In 1930, the Fred Harvey Company opened La Posada, designed by legendary architect Mary Colter. It sat between the railroad and the highway and became one of the most famous hotels in the Southwest.

Then everything changed.

Rail travel declined. La Posada closed in 1957 and was converted into railroad offices.

Twenty years later, Interstate 40 bypassed downtown Winslow and pulled Route 66 traffic with it.

Downtown emptied out.

But people still kept stopping for one reason.

A single line from the Eagles’ 1972 song “Take It Easy.”

So in 1999, Winslow built Standin’ on the Corner Park at 2nd and Kinsley, complete with a mural, statues and a flatbed Ford.

In 2004, the old building behind the mural burned down.

The facade survived.

So today, thousands of people take pictures in front of a wall with basically nothing behind it.

The bigger comeback started nearby.

Allan Affeldt and artist Tina Mion bought La Posada in 1997 when it was threatened with demolition and spent years restoring Mary Colter’s original design.

Today, both La Posada and Standin’ on the Corner are major reasons people still get off I-40 and stop in Winslow.

Route 66 turns 100 this year, and Winslow is still finding new ways to pull people off the freeway.

Three hours from Phoenix. Meteor Crater is another 20 minutes west.

Send us your Arizona stories to be featured.

#Winslow #Route66 #LaPosada #ArizonaHistory #DownInnaDesert

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## Tags

laposada, downinnadesert, arizonahistory, route66, winslow

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