Rt 66 - Valentine, AZ
/If you’re not paying attention, you can drive right through Valentine, AZ and not even know it. Luckily, I was keeping my eye out for a large, two-story brick building that used to be a day school for the nearby Hualapai Indians and a boarding school for children of the Apache, Havasupai, Hopi, Mohave, Navajo and Papago tribes. I spotted the structure and found a safe place to turn back and snap a photo or two.
The town of Valentine dates back to 1898 and it’s probably most famous for the heart-shaped postmark the small contract post office would stamp on outgoing mail every Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, that came to an end in 1990, when the post office was robbed and the lady working there was shot and killed. Shortly afterwards, her husband bulldozed the building and left the area.
This large butte across the street from the schoolhouse caught my attention. It's a pretty imposing feature in the area.
I’m sure the town was bigger and busier back before I-40 bypassed this stretch of 66. When I drove through it seemed like a quiet, peaceful spot along the road. I took a couple pictures of the old Indian school and drove on to see what else I could find along the road.
