A look at a little town in America called Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff is an awesome little mountain college town in the north of the state of Arizona in the USA. It’s a college town with a historical past, and a friendly blend of small-town feel with small-city modernities and amenities, filled with inhabitants of hippie tree-hugger spirit (and not uncommonly, dress) with real-world aspirations, aims, and contributions. Of note, with its high-altitude elevation at 6,910 ft (2106 m), it’s a great place for athletic conditioning and a number of Olympic teams as well as the state’s professional American football team come to train at the university’s athletic facilities. 

The town is proud of its historic heritage as a lumber and railroad town dating back to its first 1855 encampment when a lieutenant appointed by President James Buchanan to survey a road from New Mexico to California camped near the current location of the town. He and his men raised a Ponderosa Pine tree to serve as a “flagstaff” for the US flag. The first permanent settlement sprang up later in 1876 with the first cabin built on what is now the west side of town. 

Ten years later in 1886, after it had opened the doors of its first post office and attracted the railroad industry within those first early years, Flagstaff was already the biggest city on the railroad line between Albuquerque and the west coast. A few years after that, astronomer Percival Lowell had an observatory built in Flagstaff due to his location scout being attracted by the high elevation. It was at this observatory that Pluto was discovered in 1930. 

Now mostly a college town for Northern Arizona University, little brother to its larger major state universities Arizona State University and University of Arizona in Tempe (Phoenix) and Tucson respectively, Flagstaff also continues to serve as a hub for travelers going east to west or vice versa, especially those headed to the Grand Canyon or traversing the famed Route 66, which passes right through town. 

It’s got an active, friendly outdoorsy vibe at all times of the year, but especially in the gorgeous summers, and several good breweries and watering holes, including the beautiful historic Weatherford Hotel or the famous Monte Vista, said to be haunted by a few ghosts of past guests and other visitors, including a bank robber, a phantom bellboy, a dancing couple, a crying baby in the basement, poltergeists, and a man in a cowboy hat. 

The town’s beloved university, Northern Arizona University, was first established in 1899 as the “Northern Arizona Normal School” - “normal” relating to teaching rather than a commentary on the students - and 1901 saw its first graduating class: 4 women who had earned the credentials to teach in the Arizona Territory. Now the school is a thriving, vibrant university with 93 academic programs, 6 colleges, 21 residence halls, and more than 18,000 students at the Flagstaff campus. 

Although small towns and cities are always evolving and growing and Flagstaff is no exception, Flagstaff has long had and still retains a sort of “earthy hippie” sort of feel and look to the heart and soul of the town and its citizens. Though perhaps not as predominant as it was even a decade or so ago, you’re still not out of place to wear dreadlocks and Tevas or smell of incense here, and a person who enjoys and appreciates a good microbrew and hiking,  Kayaking , rafting, skiing, or camping will always have a place in Flagstaff.