Description:

Williams and Forest Service Visitor Center

Williams and Forest Service Visitor CenterThe friendly staff at the Visitor s Center will assist you in making your visit to Northern Arizona one of your most memorable experiences. Not just an information center, this historic railway depot property has Forest Service maps, regional maps, and a great selection of books and educational items. A concierge service offers information about tours and makes reservations for you. This very active Visitor s Center proudly promotes Williams, the Grand Canyon, and the surrounding communities in Northern Arizona that make this region so magnificent.

Coin #1 Commemorates the American Black Bear Ursis Americanus found in the woods around Williams and between Williams and Grand Canyon.

Coin #2 Commemorates Historic Route 66 with the City of Williams catchphrase - "Cruise the Loop."  Williams was the last city in America to be bypassed during the construction of Interstate 40 and celebrate Historic Route 66 each year with the Route 66 Car show.  As Route 66 passed through Williams it divided into two streets with one going West and the other going East.  Today you can Cruise the Loop by starting at one end of town and travel West and then come back going East on Historic Route 66 while seeing the many historic buildings that lined what was known as the Main Street of America.

Coin #3 Celebrates the construction of the 1901 era Santa Fe Freight depot which today houses the City of Williams Visitor Center in collaboration with Kaibab National Forest.  There is visitor information about Williams and environs but the friendly and helpful staff  will also share an insiders guide to visiting Grand Canyon National Park.  The Williams Visitor Center also houses and extensive museum featuring the history of Williams along with the history of Kaibab National Forest and the construction of what was originally known as the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, later known as the Santa Fe Railroad.  Williams was known as the Gateway to Grand Canyon when the Grand Canyon Railway left this location and tourists could go straight from Williams to Grand Canyon beginning in 1901.

Coin #4 Commemorates Williams, Arizona - The Gateway to Grand Canyon with a depiction of the arch that all traffic passes through when coming into Williams.  That along with Grand Canyon Railway s Engine #4960 which saved the day when the Santa Fe Railroad abandoned the rails and right of way to Grand Canyon back in the early 1990s.

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