In the words of Bobby Troup, “don’t forget Winona.” Originally, the place was called Walnut, predating its occupation in 1912. The town got its beginning when a man named Billy Adams was making his way on a bicycle from Moody, Texas to Long Beach, California to visit his brother in the early 1900s. However, before he reached California, he came upon a spot, about 13 miles east of Flagstaff, which would later become Winona. He simply liked the place and after traveling on to Flagstaff, he boarded a train and returned to Texas. There he married a girl named Myrtle and they soon returned to that “perfect spot,” building a trading post that exchanged supplies and groceries with the Navajo and Hopi Indians for blankets, jewelry, and other native crafts. Though Route 66 was not yet established, by the 1920’s Model-T’s were making their way westward on the Flagstaff-Winslow Highway, passing right by the Adams’ trading post. Seeing an opportunity, they soon established one of the first tourist camps in Arizona, in 1920. Billy built 12 one-room cabins as well as overnight camping for those who couldn’t afford the $1 per night cabin fee. Winona didn’t become ‘official’ until it was recognized by the USPS in 1924 at which point Myrtle Adams became its first Post Mistress, putting her in charge of hanging the mail sack outside so that it could be hooked by railroad men as the train rolled by.