By Rick Holben, East Mountain Historical Society
If you traveled with family on Route 66 as a child in the 1950s and 1960s, you probably remember seeing jackrabbit signs that seemed to spring alongside the famous highway for miles and miles and miles, leading tourists to a trading post in Arizona.
Turns out, that iconic advertising symbol was born in Tijeras Canyon.
“Here it is!” jackrabbit signs dotted the landscape along U.S. Highway 66 for nearly 1,000 miles during the golden age of Route 66, created by James H. Taylor to advertise his Jack Rabbit Trading Post in Joseph City, Ariz., which he opened about 1949.
But before opening the post in Joseph City, Taylor operated the Canyon Trading Post east of Albuquerque in Tijeras Canyon. There, a large jackrabbit figure was placed along the highway as an attraction to lure people off the famous road. That whimsical jackrabbit apparently served as the model after Taylor moved to Arizona, when he and fellow trading post owner Wayne Troutner of Winslow put it on signs they posted all along U.S. Highway 66, all the way from Arizona to Springfield, Missouri.
The “Here it is!” signs became an iconic symbol of Route 66, for which nostalgia remains today. Taylor’s Jack Rabbit Trading Post in Joseph City is still in operation, with one of the original wooden signs still hopping nearby on old Highway 66.
James H. Taylor was born in Brandon, Texas, in 1909. In the early 1940s, he was a flight instructor and manager of the airport at Clovis, N.M. In January 1947, James and his wife Inez purchased just over a half-acre of land along Highway 66 near Sedillo Hill east of Tijeras, where they established the Canyon Trading Post. It included two rental cabins and sold Conoco gas along with roadside souvenirs and taxidermy items crafted by Taylor.
The jackrabbit that lured visitors to Canyon Trading Post was covered in real fur and was likely one of Taylor’s taxidermy creations. Children could have their picture taken with the iconic jackrabbit, and for 25 cents, the image would be printed on a postcard. Tijeras native Sandra Walton Lee was among those who sat on the jackrabbit as a child. Now in her mid-80s, Sandra still recalls that it “smelled funny” and pieces of fur were falling off. The Walton family owned a small store in Tijeras and were friends with the Taylors. Sandra remembers the family driving to Joseph City, Ariz., in the early 1950s to visit the Taylors at their new Trading Post. Taylor left Tijeras Canyon in 1949.
The popularity of his roadside rabbit attraction traveled with him and became a part of history. Taylor died in 1989 in Sun City, Arizona. His obituary merely notes he was “a retired owner of a curio shop.”
A version of this story is one of several in the East Mountain Historical Society’s just-published book, A History of the Highway Between Albuquerque and Santa Rosa – and how it became U.S. Highway 66. The book contains dozens of photos, maps, postcards, advertisements and signs, many from author Rick Holben’s personal collection. The Route 66 book and the society’s new Route 66-themed 2026 Calendar are being sold by the non-profit, the all-volunteer society to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Route 66 next year. For more information on retail outlets and the online store, visit eastmountainhistory.org.
