Founded in 1895 after the completion of the "Peavine" Railroad (see Ash Fork) the railroad camp known as Prescott Junction officially became Seligman. Seligman embraced Route 66 wholeheartedly upon its arrival in the late 1920’s. The railroad and tourist traffic from Route 66 became Seligman's main source of economic security. In the late 1970's Seligman was bypassed by the Interstate and the Santa Fe Railroad ceased its operations in the town in 1985. Many old towns with similar histories would have faded away once they were bypassed, but not Seligman.

Ash Fork was born in October 1882 when the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad established a siding at Ash Creek for the freighting companies of the area. They had been pressuring the railroad for a more convenient location than Williams. Ash Fork's early years were typical of the wild old railroad towns of the era. The Population was a boisterous, devil may care crowd. Early travelers in the area noted that there were three hundred fifty saloons along two hundred miles of track. Over the years, as a more stable population moved in things quieted down somewhat. The Santa Fe Railroad built a Harvey House in Ash Fork in 1907. In the 1940's troop trains made regular stops at Ash Fork that also added to the community's prosperity.