Winslow, Arizona: Named for a Railroad President
Winslow, Arizona, began as a railroad division point, and it carries the name of Edward F. Winslow, president of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad. He ran one of the two railroads that owned the line through town.
A president’s name on a division point
The railroad that built across northern Arizona in the early 1880s was the Atlantic and Pacific, and it had two big partners. Will C. Barnes’s Arizona Place Names, published in 1935, explains the name in a single line: Winslow was named “After Gen. Edward F. Winslow, president of St. Louis and San Francisco R. R., which owned one-half of the old Atlantic and Pacific railroad.” By the time Barnes wrote, the line belonged to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and he lists the town as a “Railroad division point A. T. & S. F.” at an elevation of 4,856 feet (1,480 m).
A division point meant railroad jobs. James H. McClintock’s 1916 history of Arizona says Winslow, “also named after a railroad official, had early prosperity in the establishment of railroad shops, though agriculture later was added as a source of local income.” The town was incorporated on January 4, 1900, with E. A. Sawyer as mayor.
Railroad names up and down the line
Winslow has plenty of company. McClintock says Holbrook, the next town east, was named in October 1882 “after Richard Holbrook, one of the locating engineers” of the same Atlantic and Pacific. Farther west, Kingman took the name of Lewis Kingman, the engineer who located the line across northern Arizona. So if you drive the old route today, you’re reading a list of railroad men.
By 1954, the federal mapmakers still drew the town hugging the tracks, with a four-lane highway running right beside them. Keep going west on the line and you’ll reach Flagstaff, another railroad town.
Quick answers
Who is Winslow, Arizona, named after?
Edward F. Winslow, president of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, according to Barnes’s Arizona Place Names (1935). His railroad owned half of the Atlantic and Pacific, which built the line through town.
Why is Winslow a railroad town?
It was a division point with railroad shops. McClintock says the shops gave Winslow its “early prosperity.”
When was Winslow, Arizona, incorporated?
On January 4, 1900, with E. A. Sawyer as mayor, according to McClintock’s 1916 history.
Key dates
- 1882October: Holbrook, the next town east on the same line, is named for an Atlantic and Pacific engineer.
- 1900January 4: Winslow is incorporated, with E. A. Sawyer as mayor.
Getting there
Open Winslow in Google Maps
Opens in a new tab. The pin is the center of Winslow in the USGS place-name record.
The closest airports, Amtrak stations and intercity bus stops, measured in a straight line from the center of Winslow.
Airports
- Flagstaff Pulliam (FLG) - Flagstaff 56 mi 89 km
- Show Low Regional (SOW) 66 mi 105 km
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) 133 mi 214 km
Amtrak trains
- Winslow station (WLO) under 1 mi 0.4 km
- Flagstaff station (FLG) 55 mi 89 km
Intercity buses
- Greyhound Holbrook Circle K 32 mi 51 km
- Route 66 Express Amtrak Connecting Service · Flagstaff 55 mi 89 km
- FlixBus Flagstaff Train Station 55 mi 89 km
Distances are as the crow flies, not by road. We don't list schedules or fares because they change; check with the airline, Amtrak or the bus company before you go. Official data (FAA commercial service airports (2025), FAA airport locations, Amtrak stations and Intercity Bus Atlas) from the FAA and the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, checked Nov 6, 2026.
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Historical Sources & References
- Will C. Barnes, Arizona Place Names (1935). Winslow as an A. T. & S. F. division point at 4,856 feet, named “After Gen. Edward F. Winslow, president of St. Louis and San Francisco R. R., which owned one-half of the old Atlantic and Pacific railroad.” Read as short search excerpts.
- James H. McClintock, Arizona, vol. 2 (1916), p. 555. Winslow “also named after a railroad official,” its railroad shops and its incorporation on January 4, 1900; Holbrook named in October 1882 for Richard Holbrook.
- GNIS feature 13930 (U.S. Geological Survey). The Geological Survey’s record for Winslow, in Navajo County.
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