Forgotten BUT NOT
GONE
A dedication to the Dinétah or Navajo Nation and to the memory of Geri Singer.
Abandoned buildings on Highway 89 haunt a way of life
I
PAUL GARCIA t occurred to me while driving north on Highway 89 that the long stretch of road is haunted. Not by wayward specters or ghastly apparitions, but by the long-abandoned buildings that line the road like silent memorials to a time long since forgotten and to a way of life that may be seeing its final days. Of course this realization didn’t come to me suddenly or even recently, it had been brewing in my mind since I was a child when I would travel with my family from Dinétah (the Navajo Nation) to Flagstaff. During the long drive from our home in Halgaidi (White Valley) to Flagstaff, we would go through Tuba City and down Highway 89 through Cameron and Gray Mountain before reaching the city. I would watch the scenery pass as we drove down the highway where, inevitably, the old motel in Gray Mountain would always catch my eye. The gradual decline of the motel was noticeable each time we passed. The sparse number of cars in the parking lot began to be replaced with grass that grew from the cracks in the pavement. Then, one day, the windows were boarded up, and all signs of habitation were gone. While I was witness to the final days of the motel, I was also aware of the other buildings in the area that had also closed down. Wauneta Trading Post is probably the most well known due to the interests of urban explorers. The trading post is mentioned in several online forums, and it has also been visited by a few YouTubers in the past. Wauneta is easily recognizable from the road side with its drooping roof and the billboard sign that has since been tagged by an artist to read “Radioactive pollution kills, it’s time to clean up the mines.” Continued on Page 15
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A lonely sign is tagged with a declaration that says, “Radioactive pollution kills, it’s time to clean up the mines.” PHOTOS BY PAUL GARCIA