When the weather gets toasty here in Phoenix and we long for the days when it’s *only* 100 degrees out, many of us head North for cooler weather. This month, we’re digging into our collections and dreaming about road trips. It turns out Arizona road trips have long been popular! (Not surprising, since one of our Five Cs is Climate!) Here are a few highlights from both library and archival collections.
Some of our favorite treasures come from our map collection. Julie Hoff, our maps guru extraordinaire, shared these beautiful hand-illustrated maps put out by the Arizona State Highway Commission in the 1930s and 1940s. They later switched to photographs, but we love these drawings!
We also have some really lovely material from the Arizona Collection (thanks, Ellen Greene!) showing off some of our fantastic ephemera. Click on the thumbnails below to get a better view of some of our treasures, and be sure to stop by to see more in our display case!

Photograph of Grace Golden, a Harvey Girl, sitting on hood of car at the Grand Canyon (Ariz.), 1926. RG 99, SG 12, 01-4770.jpg
- Arizona State Highway Commission Road Map, 1936.
- Arizona State Highway Commission Road Map, 1937.
- Arizona State Highway Commission Road Map, 1938.
- Arizona State Highway Commission Road Map, 1939.
- Arizona State Highway Commission Road Map, 1940.
- Arizona State Highway Commission Road Map, 1942.
- Castle Hot Springs Ephemera, 1905, Arizona Collection, 917.913 C353CA 1905
- Car on a Roadway in Gila County, MG 25, 01-3129.jpg
- Photograph of Grace Golden, a Harvey Girl, sitting on hood of car at the Grand Canyon (Ariz.), 1926. RG 99, SG 12, 01-4770.jpg
- Photograph of (left to right) Governor George W. P. Hunt and Ed Janaway, sitting on the bumper of the state car. MG 25, 01-1304.jpg
- National Old Trails Road : U.S. Highway 66, Automobile Club of Southern California, Arizona Collection, 917.3 A51
- National Old Trails Road : U.S. Highway 66, Automobile Club of Southern California, Arizona Collection, 917.3 A51
- Undated Arizona Ephemera, Arizona Collection
- Grand Canyon and the Indian Empire, Santa Fe Trailways, ca. 1940s
- Arizona Good Roads Association Illustrated Road Maps and Tour Book, 1913.
- Motor Trip No. 2. , Tonto National Forest, no date. Arizona Collection.