Delgadillo Launches Birdhouse Fundraiser After Arizona Marks Full Historic Route 66 Stretch
At 98, Angel Delgadillo is building and selling birdhouses made from century-old lumber to pay for Route 66 welcome signs in Seligman ahead of next year’s centennial.
Overview
- Arizona has officially recognized all 160 miles of its Route 66 corridor—from the California border to near Ash Fork—as a historic road, the nation’s longest uninterrupted stretch.
- Delgadillo’s February 1987 founding of the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona spurred an initial 83-mile designation that eventually expanded to the full remaining route.
- Now retired, he has built and sold 268 numbered birdhouses crafted from 100-year-old lumber, pricing each at $100.66 to raise funds for local signage.
- Proceeds will finance welcome signs at both ends of Seligman in preparation for Route 66’s 100th anniversary in 2026.
- Dubbed the “guardian angel of Route 66,” Delgadillo draws pilgrims to his Seligman barbershop shrine and has inspired preservation efforts across other states.