Toonerville Trading Post

100 Toonerville Rd, Twin Arrows, AZ
Phone:

East < GO > West

In the mid-1930s Earl Tinnin leased 10 acres of land on a rather desolate stretch of the original Route 66 between Flagstaff and Winslow and built and the Toonerville Trading Post and gas station. He had already spent a couple of years in the area first working as a mechanic at the Winona Trading Post Texaco Garage followed by another couple of years operating a store at Two Guns. Earl Tinnin had a fondness for the Toonerville Trolley comic strip and named his new business after it. For most of the Tinnin's ownership of Toonerville they sold Texaco gas and products.

The former trading post is located on the south frontage road just eat of I-40 exit 219. That's the same exit as the Twin Arrows Trading Post.

GPS: GPS: 35.157922, -111.264369

It couldn't have been an easy life those first few years. At least in the beginning they lived in the back of the store, which was built frome stones collected by hand in the area. There was no well or electricity in the early days. Water had to be hauled in from Winslow in barrels. Later they were able to get water from the railroad at a stop near Angell, AZ, only a couple miles from the trading post. The first electricity came from a small generator. It seems like it was the late-40s or early-50s before a water well, indoor plumbing and commercial electricity were added.

Besides a lunch counter and gas and automotive supplies the Tinnins sold Indian blankets and other items they got from Navajo living on the nearby reservation, hence the Trading Post name. Mrs. Tinin was apparently fluent in the Navajo language which no doubt made the trading relationship stronger.

The business was closed during the WWII years when the family moved to California where Earl Tinnin worked as a welder in the defense industry. When they returned reopened after the war years they added trinkets and souvenirs aimed more at tourists to the merchandise they already offered.

By 1948 the Tinnins had begun attempting to sell the store, but it wasn't until 1954 when Merret D. "Slick" and Pearl McAlister bought the business. After the sale the Tinnins moved to Flagstaff where Earl eventually entered the real estate business and eventually owned several motels.

The McAlisters had previously leased and operated the Vermilion Cliffs Lodge north of Flagstaff for several years. They continued to operate Toonerville as a trading post for a few years but eventually switched to more of a cafe and station type business.

The smaller section of the building with more windows appears to have been a later addition, which could make sense considering the McAlisters focus on a cafe. Its roof has been modified at some point in time. Old photos show its roofline matching that of the larger and original section. Photos from the 50s and 60s show the name TOONERVILLE spelled out in larger letters stretching all the way across the front of the smaller section. The trees in front of the building weren't there when the station was open.

One interesting thing the McAlisters did while they owned the trading post was to build a small Hogan on the west edge of the property in 1959 for the use of local Indians. A Hogan was a small hut style structure used for housing or ceremonies. Researchers from the Northern Arizona University investigated the Hogan in 1969, by which time it was in serious disrepair, it's apparently completely gone now. So why did the McAlisters build it?

It's not quite clear, but on Christmas Eve in 1958 they had helped an expectant Navajo mother in distress who was brought to the trading post by friends just before midnight and delivered a child minutes into Christams morning. Maybe that experience strengthend the relationship between the McAlisters and the Navajo people to the point where building the Hogan seemed to be appropriate to both.

The McAlisters owned and operated the business until 1971 when Slick was killed and Pearl was seriously injured during a robbery that still hasn't been solved.

Dr. Henry Poore had cared for Pearl McAlister while she recovered after the robbery and apparently bought the property soon after. I'm not sure how long he owned the property.

The next owner I know of was Mary Smeal who bought the property sometime by or before the early 2000s, and perhaps the mid-90s and converted it to a private residence. She was instrumental in the restoration of the large arrows stuck in the ground at the Twin Arrows Trading Post just down the road. Mary died in late 2016 aand I'm unsure of the status of the property at the moment.

Photo(s): 2013