Seligman Commercial Historic District
National Register of Historic Places

Seligman Commercial Historic District

Seligman, Yavapai County, Arizona
Listed
February 1, 2005
Type
District
Period
Listed
Ref No.
04000511

About this property

Seligman (Havasupai: Thavgyalyal) is a census-designated place (CDP) on the northern border of Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The population was 446 at the 2020 census. It is one of the stops on historic U.S. Route 66. Seligman is located at 35°19′42″N 112°52′27″W (35.328199, −112.874303), at 5,240 feet (1,600 m) in elevation, alongside the Big Chino Wash, in a northern section of Chino Valley. The wash is a major tributary of the Verde River. Seligman is a popular stopping point along Historic U.S. Route 66. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Seligman CDP has a total area of 6.4 square miles (17 km2), all land. The region was in the longtime homeland of the Havasupai people, who had a settlement in the present-day Seligman area. The town site was on Beale's Wagon Road, and a stage stop on the Mojave Road. Originally, Seligman was called "Prescott Junction" because it was the railroad stop on the Santa Fe mainline junction with the Prescott and Arizona Central Railway Company feeder line running to Prescott, in the Arizona Territory. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) had reached it in 1882. In 1886 it was renamed Seligman, after Jesse Seligman, one of the founders of J. & W. Seligman & Co. of New York, who helped finance the railroad lines in the area. The original feeder line to Prescott was replaced in 1891 by the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway with the Santa Fe mainline junction at Ash Fork instead. Because of its flat land Seligman became a large switching yard consisting of many tracks, and served as a large livestock shipping center for the areas ranchers. It was also a terminal point for changing train crews between Winslow and Needles, who used overnight cottages in the town. The "Havasu House" was a Fred Harvey Company Harvey House hotel and restaurant in Seligman, serving the Santa Fe Railway and local residents. It was named "Havasu" after the native Havasupai tribe of the area. Adjacent to it was the Santa Fe Depot and Reading Room. The Havasu Harvey House opened in 1905, closed in 1954, and was demolished in 2008. Passenger trains ceased stopping in Seligman in 1984. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) has owned the tracks through town since 1996, which carries numerous freight trains and nonstop Amtrak trains. The former Santa Fe Reading room moved to the Seligman High School. The Seligman Commercial Historic District is a historic district in central Seligman. The historic district is along historic Route 66 in town, which was designated a historic highway by the state of Arizona in 1978. The Seligman Commercial Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Location

Seligman, Yavapai County, Arizona
35.32660, -112.87521

Categories

COMMERCETRANSPORTATIONARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Cottage Hotel
Industrial
0.1 mi
Ash Fork Maintenance Camp #1
Industrial
22.8 mi
Ash Fork Steel Dam
Industrial
26.8 mi
Walnut Creek Bridge
Industrial
27.7 mi
Walnut Creek Ranger Station
Industrial
27.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Seligman Commercial Historic District listed on the National Register?

Seligman Commercial Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 1, 2005.

What type of historic resource is Seligman Commercial Historic District?

Seligman Commercial Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Seligman Commercial Historic District?

The period of significance for Seligman Commercial Historic District is recorded as the listed era.

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