From the Archives: ADOT goes Back to the Fair

Who says time travel isn’t possible?

After looking at these photos, we feel like we’ve taken a trip back to 1970 and landed our DeLorean at the Arizona State Fair.

Of course, the first thing we seek out is the Arizona Highway Department’s impressive display – hard to miss with that sign screaming, “HIGHWAYS serve you.”

How much do you love the freeway diorama that seems to have caught the attention of many fair-goers? If you look close you'll see that the model shows a proposed I-10 link that we know now was ultimately voted down in favor of the Deck Park Tunnel design.

We definitely need to check out that aerial mapping display. We don’t want to unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum, so we won’t mention to anybody the many ways that technology has changed over the past several decades.

After that, maybe we’ll see what types of careers are possible at the Arizona Highway Department – remember ADOT didn’t become ADOT until 1973.

An aerial mapping display at the 1970 State Fair.

It looks like they’re hiring for accountants, auditors, title examiners, key punch operators, computer specialists, engineers, maintenance men, draftsmen, stenographers, typists, motor vehicle examiners and license driver examiners.

Notice all the paper applications on that table? Back in the future, applying for a job at ADOT is an online process.

Speaking of the future, we hear a clock tower ringing in the distance. Time to head back to 2015, where sadly there are no hover boards or flying cars, but there’s still a chance to see ADOT at the fair! We’ll be there this year Oct. 24-25 as part of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety “Public Safety Days.”

Learn about a career in transportation.

More than 40 statewide safety organizations, including law enforcement agencies and fire departments, will participate during Public Safety Days. The goal is to share information to help keep you and your family safe. ADOT will be handing out construction hats for kids, souvenir cones and plenty of information.

And, if you ever feel like going back to the past, but you can’t quite generate the 1.21 gigawatts of necessary electricity, you can check out our previous State Fair posts from 1968 and 1970.

It’s safe to say things have changed since 1912 when the Arizona Highway Department was first established. But you don’t just have to take our word … we’ve got plenty of pictures to prove it. We combed through our archives and decided to periodically post these photos from the past in a blog series we’re calling, “From the ADOT Archives.”