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On The Road Again
Holbrook, Ariz. Dino-mite: A nostalgic trip into the Triassic period
Holbrook’s collection of roadside dinosaurs brings in visitors to benefit local businesses. (Road Travel America via Flickr.com; public domain)
By JULIE YOUNG | The Municipal
It’s not exactly “Jurassic Park,” but for folks looking to connect to the giant creatures of the past, Holbrook, Ariz., is the next best thing. Located 190 miles northeast of Phoenix and situated within the Painted Desert, Holbrook is known for its remarkable landscape, Route 66 kitsch, Wild West figures and … dinosaurs. Past meets present According to scientists, over 245 million years ago, the land upon which the city of Holbrook is built was a vast floodplain that was inhabited by dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. Eventually, the land sank into the sea, and after the plants and animals died off, their remains were covered in freshwater sediment and were ultimately fossilized. These fossils have been excavated in the Petrified Forest National Park, displayed at the Rainbow Forest Museum and capitalized on by any number of roadside attractions in the area. Although several of the businesses that traffic in petrified wood, geodes and local artwork over the years have closed or have varied operating hours, one of the oldest and largest is Jim Gray’s Petrified 12 THE MUNICIPAL | JANUARY 2022
Wood Company at 147 U.S. Highway 180. Originally known as the Holbrook Rock Shop and owned by Jim and Cathy Gray, Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Company began more than 48 years ago with nothing more than a pickup truck and a pile of petrified wood. Today, the business owns the mineral rights to several tracts near the Petrified Forest National Park, and it does its own digging, cutting and polishing to create the products it carries in the shop. To attract travelers to stop in and look at its wares, Jim Gray’s boasts several giant dinosaur statues on display in the parking lot for photo ops. The statues came from the now defunct International Dinosaur Park and Museum of the Americas, which was built in 1999 and featured a 6-mile drive through a 6,500-acre park. That
