Oklahoma Route 66 - Hydro

HYDRO, OKLAHOMA. Former over the pump style gas station, now a private residence. On a concrete section of Oklahoma Route 66.

OKLAHOMA ROUTE 66. It was 101 degrees on a Saturday afternoon in June as I crossed the Pony Bridge, and there were families swimming in the Canadian River on the western bank. Childhood memories continue to be made on Route 66, even in 2012.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Yukon

YUKON, OKLAHOMA. Farm stuff on 66. This mill and grain elevator was built in 1933, when one of the original partners in the more famous Yukon Mill (famous as a 66 attraction because of a great neon sign, not agricultural fame) left to start his own business. He didn't go far, as this mill is right across the street from the Yukon Mill. In 1972, it was sold and now operates as the MFC Farmers Co-Op.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Yukon

YUKON, OKLAHOMA. The Yukon Mill on 66, constructed at the turn of the 20th century when Yukon was a farm town. The community is now mostly a suburb of Oklahoma City, with houses and malls instead of cultivated farmland. It is also the "Czech Capital of Oklahoma", at least according to the mill's mural. While passing through Yukon, be sure not to miss the Garth Brooks Water Tower, located at I-40 and Garth Brooks Boulevard.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY. All we need are some old gas pumps to turn this scene into a traditional Route 66 roadside attraction. The Oklahoma State Capitol building opened in 1917, and it is the only state capitol with a working oil well on the grounds. (Take that, Texas). The building sits on the huge Oklahoma City Oil Field, which was discovered in 1928 and is still producing today. Sensing that an oil field under a city could be disruptive to daily life, the Oklahoma City Council passed a law in 1930 limiting drilling to one well per city block, and restricting such activity to certain sections of the city. My town should have such problems. Oklahomans were so busy drilling for all that oil that they never got around to constructing the capitol's dome until 2002. It was nicknamed "Old Baldy" for all those years it went topless.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Oklahoma City

Route 66 Bowl, 2006

OKLAHOMA CITY. Change is ever constant on the old road, and you need to get a move on if you plan to see some of the aging and evolving Route 66 attractions. In Oklahoma City, Route 66 Bowl closed in 2010 after a 51 year run, and the classic sign was auctioned off. Leave your bowling ball at home. This is from my visit in 2006.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY. You can no longer buy milk at the Milk Bottle Grocery on Classen Boulevard in OKC, the one with the giant Braum's Milk Bottle on top, as it is now a Vietnamese sandwich shop. The shop got a rave review on the Roadside America website, maintaining the tradition of good eats on 66.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY. Tower Theater marquee on NW 23rd Street (old Route 66) in OKC. The old theater opened on a summer's night in 1937, boasting of "scientific refrigeration" and free parking. Early patrons saw the movie "Super Sleuth," with Jack Oakie, Ann Sothern and Edgar Kennedy. The Tower closed in 1989 and deteriorated along with its neighborhood, until help arrived in 2005 with new ownership. The neon sign was restored and relit in 2010, and plans are in the works to expand and reopen the theater itself.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Arcadia

ARCADIA, OKLAHOMA. My first look at the artsy 66-foot tall soda bottle outside Pops, a Route 66 attraction that opened in the summer of 2007. Pops itself is a diner and convenience store, with gas pumps out front and a parking lot so huge that it's a bit out of place on this small town section of 66. While there was not all that much traffic on the two-lane the day of my visit, Pop's was packed and the parking lot full. Must have been those "Interstate 66ers", the ones who travel mostly on the modern freeway and only exit for specific Route 66 sites. They don't know that they're missing half the fun.

OKLAHOMA ROUTE 66. Oklahoma drivers on two-lane Route 66 are most excellent passers. Not to worry then while slowing down to enjoy the scenery.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Arcadia

Sam Gillaspy, 2007

ARCADIA, OKLAHOMA. As impressive and colorful as the Round Barn of Arcadia was for me, the best part of my first visit, in 2007, was meeting Mr. Sam Gillaspy, a lifelong resident of Arcadia. 81 years old at the time, Sam led me on an informative tour of both floors of the structure, but what I really enjoyed was hearing about life on Sam's nearby farm. Farm life was something quite alien and fascinating to someone who hails from the suburbs of New Jersey, and this is why we travel, isn't it? I live in a town of 30,000 people and don't know most of them, including the people on my own block. That's why I found it enchanting to hear about the barn dances that were held here in Arcadia, events that brought together a community to celebrate and enjoy life together. To bring your best girl and to show her off in such a setting as this, that must engender a simple and homey pleasure that most of us will never know.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Arcadia

A picture of the Round Barn before restoration hangs inside the barn today

Marvelous dome restoration of the Round Barn, from the inside

Round Barn of Arcadia

ARCADIA, OKLAHOMA. The Round Barn of Arcadia was built in 1898 with tornadoes in mind, hence the round shape thought to offer some protection from Oklahoma's stormy weather. The barn never was knocked down by a storm, but it had deteriorated quite a bit anyway by the late 1980's. It was wonderfully restored by a group of local retirees in 1992, no easy task as the old place is 45 feet high and 60 feet in diameter, with a second story inside. The curved indoor planks of the restored roof is an amazing site, and any serious 66 traveler simply must make the climb to the second floor dance hall and see it.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Arcadia

Flowers are always a nice touch on an old stone ruin

Conoco Filling Station, Arcadia

ARCADIA, OKLAHOMA. The rock wall remains of a former Conoco filling station, built around 1920. The station closed in the 1930's when the owners were caught with a printing press for $10 bills, or so goes the Route 66 legend.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Chandler

CHANDLER, OKLAHOMA. One of the neatest conference rooms I have ever seen, at the Route 66 Interpretive Center in Chandler. And I have wasted the boss's time in many such meeting rooms, in my other life as an accountant.
     The center is housed in an armory built in the 1930's by the WPA for the Oklahoma National Guard. The rooms provide plenty of space for 66 exhibits, and the huge former drill room just screams for a classic car display. 

Chandler, Oklahoma

CHANDLER, OKLAHOMA. In business since 1939, the Lincoln Motel has some colorful old fashioned cabins, with benches out on the lawn to view the action on Route 66.

OKLAHOMA ROUTE 66. While traveling Oklahoma 66 on a Saturday, I noticed a fair number of motorcycle gangs on the two-lane, many more than I had seen during the work week. This tells me that most of these hogs are ridden by bankers, teachers and accountants rather than scary outlaws.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Stroud

Skyliner Motel neon

Downtown Stroud, Oklahoma

STROUD, OKLAHOMA. Small town Stroud was mostly in the saloon business as the 20th century began, went dry with Oklahoma statehood in 1907, then benefited around this same time with the discovery of all oil nearby. Route 66 was built through the center of town in the 1920's, and in 1946 Jack Rittenhouse reported on the Mother Road's local benefits. He found several tourist courts, a few gas stations and a hotel, local small businesses all. Rittenhouse also reported that the thriving town was also a busy agricultural trading center. But times change. The construction of the Turner Turnpike (now I-44) in the 1950's, a real early 66 bypass, slowed the tourist trade. The Oklahoma oil booms finally went bust in the 1980's. Since then Stroud has had to scramble a bit, and there is today a 90 acre industrial park in town looking for tenants. On the positive side, Stroud was recognized in 2005 as the Grape and Wine Capital of Oklahoma, with 15 wineries within 50 miles. This an excellent tourist draw, no doubt, as is the city's downtown, which has an authentic and friendly Route 66 look to it, including the Coca-Cola ghost mural.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Stroud

STROUD, OKLAHOMA. Roy Rives, looking for some extra cash in his retirement, built the Rock Cafe in the late 1930's using local sandstone left over from a construction project. With its Giraffe-style (I love that term!) exterior, the restaurant opened its doors in 1939 on a busy Route 66 and was immediately successful. The first manager was a Miss Thelma Holloway, who leased the building from Mr. Rives. (I assume old Roy spent his time fishing.) An on-site Greyhound bus stop depositing customers on the Rock's doorstep helped the business survive during the lean times of World War II, and the restaurant thrived during the post-war travel boom. After a succession of short term operators, Ms. Mamie Mayfield took over the rock in 1959, and she ran her business until the bypassing of Route 66 through Stroud finally forced her to close the restaurant in 1983.

      Dawn Welch bought the Rock Cafe in 1993, which was by then in need of major restorations. In the 2000's, with a grant from the National Park Service, the restaurant was overhauled inside and out. By the time I first visited the cafe in 2006, it was once again a proud Route 66 landmark. Unfortunately, a fire in 2008 destroyed everything but the four rock walls and Betsy, the original restaurant grill from 1939. But with a ton of hard work and help once again from the NPS, the Rock reopened in 2009, and it happily remains one of the must see stops on everyone's 66 list.
      I wanted to meet Ms. Welch, but it was the weekend breakfast rush when I arrived. A crowded Saturday is not the time to interrupt a successful small business owner.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Depew

DEPEW, OKLAHOMA. An abandoned and overgrown section of old 66.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Sapulpa

Rock Creek Bridge

Bricks and rusty steel trusses, Rock Creek Bridge

Overgrown ticket booths at the Tee Pee Drive-in

Tee Pee Drive-in

     The Rock Creek Bridge offers a crumbling brick roadway and plenty of rusty steel trusses. A lack of traffic also affords one a leisurely walk across. And be careful when you get back into your car and continue west on 66 by driving over the bridge - it is only one lane wide.
     "You'll find Ma, Pa and the kids at the drive-in," said one of Sapulpa's leading citizens upon leaving the gate. "We've found our summer's entertainment at the Teepee." - Sapulpa Daily Herald, May 7, 1950. The Tee Pee had just had its opening night, with a showing of "Tycoon" starring John Wayne and Laraine Day. A "gigantic fireworks display" thrilled the audience after the first show. The Tee Pee lasted longer than most outdoor movie theaters, closing at the turn of the century. 
     These images from the outskirts of Sapulpa conjure up what I originally expected to find all along modern day Route 66 - narrow country lanes, crumbling concrete and brick roadways, and long abandoned antiques like the Rock Creek Bridge and Tee Pee Drive-In. No big cities, no functioning businesses, no natural wonders, and no people. Of course, my original expectations came from all the 66 photography that tends to focuses on such vintage stuff. And rightly so that it does. But we all know better now.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Tulsa

"Take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry..." - Bob Wills, George Strait, Asleep at the Wheel, and many others

Blue Dome Station

Metro Diner, 2006

Oasis Motel, 11th Street

Desert Hills Motel, 11th Street

TULSA, OKLAHOMA. With a population close to 400,000, and a modest but respectable skyline, I rank Tulsa as one of the "big city" stops on Route 66, along with Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, and Los Angeles. Cyrus Avery, the "Father of Route 66," was from Tulsa, so here is where it all began. Mr. Avery owned a gas station, a restaurant, and a tourist court in Tulsa, went to Washington in 1925 to help establish the Federal Highway System, which included Route 66, then ran the new road right by his businesses. What a country! 

     Tulsa was the "Oil Capital of the World" in the early part of the 20th century, and since Art Deco was "in" at the time, much of the local architecture reflects that style, right down to the churches. The old brick building with the blue top at the corner of Second Street and Elgin was built in 1925, adding to this abundance of Art Deco. Originally the Blue Dome Service Station, it started out selling the builder's own Chastain oil products, became a Tydol Gas Station for a time and later became a Gulf. It had Route 66 traffic for a few years, but the station was bypassed when the old road was rerouted away from downtown to 11th Street, in 1933. It relied on city customers until about 1950, when the gas station turned into a bar. I'm not sure what the building is used for today, though I've heard there is an artist's studio under the blue dome.

     The Metro Diner, where Elvis ate, was built in the 1980's (and torn down, sorry to say, just a few years ago to make way for a University of Tulsa expansion), so it really wasn't authentic Route 66. But it sure looked the part, and hosted many 66 roadies during its time.

     11th Street still has many functioning motels and businesses left over from its 66 days, including the Oasis and Desert Hills motels. 
    

Route 66 Info

Route 66 was not completely paved, from Chicago to Santa Monica, until 1937. Remember that on your next cross country drive sans muddy dirt roads.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Catoosa

The Blue Whale of Catoosa, 80 feet long and 15 feet high

Inside the belly of the beast

Ladder to the back fin/diving board of the Blue Whale of Catoosa. Old Hugh didn't miss a trick

Blaine Davis proudly shows off his Pop's handiwork

CATOOSA, OKLAHOMA. The famous Blue Whale of Catoosa, a Mom and Pop attraction that is just classic Route 66. The 80-foot whale was built in the early 1970's by a Mr. Hugh Davis as the final addition to an existing children's amusement complex, but also as a gift to his wife, Zelta. The big fish lives in a little pond that is a refreshing spot on a summer day, and with big goofy mouth and cool water slides, the site quickly became the old swimmin' hole for young Catoosians. The Whale was open to the public for a time with lifeguards and everything, but closed down in 1988 when the children supposedly preferred to swim in their new backyard pools. The grounds and fish were left to fall into disrepair. 
      The site was restored with the help of the local Chamber of Commerce in the 1990's, which easily recruited the help of local businessmen who swam there as children. This restoration story follows the bust to boom pattern we see a lot of on 66, and another piece of 66 history was saved. The old blue fish is in top condition today, and is a must stop for all 66ers. I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the site by Blaine Davis, son of Hugh and Zelta.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Catoosa

 

CATOOSA, OKLAHOMA. The neighborhood surrounding the Arrowood Trading Post is a bit more suburban than the remote desert Southwest where most of the souvenir shops on 66 were built, but it does have that Native American look to it popular on 1950's TV.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Afton

AFTON, OKLAHOMA. Ancient tourist courts still standing on Route 66 in Afton, and because the old sign is still readable, we know that at one time it was called the Avon Motel. Not much other information is available on this former roadside business. Probably built in the 1930's, it's amazing to this citizen of overcrowded Northern New Jersey that such a big piece of land can be left undisturbed after all these years. Maybe it's time for a move to Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Afton

AFTON, OKLAHOMA. I don't know how much longer the Rest Haven Motel's crumbling old sign will be allowed to stand. The side facing west on old Route 66 is just about faded away.

Oklahoma Route 66 - Miami

9-ft wide section, a bit bumpy, from 2008

Sharp turn on the 9-ft wide section, from 2008

9 ft-wide section, from 2008

Oklahoma 66 shield on the old 9-ft section, from 2008

MIAMI, OKLAHOMA. Just south of Miami, and a little tricky to find and follow, is a section of old, old Route 66 this is just a hoot to drive because it is only 9 feet wide. (Including curbs!) Constructed between 1919 and 1921 as Highway 7, it was later claimed by Route 66 at the more famous road's inception in 1926. It is one of several sections of the Mother Road known as the Sidewalk Highway, built only wide enough for one vehicle at a time. 66 legend has it that frugal local officials were able to build their section of the road twice as long by making it only half as wide. (Or maybe in those dangerous early days of auto travel, most road trips were only in one direction anyway, with the driver never to be heard from again. No return trip necessary!) Used now as a side road between farms, I had to pull way over onto the shoulder several times to let the local pickup trucks pass.

      Unfortunately, my 2012 travel schedule (and lack of full rental car insurance) necessitated a bypass of this old section of 66, so these photos are from 2008.

Kansas Route 66 - Riverton

Eisler Bros., 2008

Eisler Brothers Store on 66, 2008

Inside Eisler Brothers Store, from 2008. A classic Route 66 roadside business. 2008

James Dean was spotted shopping at Eisler Brothers Store, 2008

Scott Nelson, 2008

RIVERTON, KANSAS. I didn't have the heart to bother Scott Nelson, president of the Kansas Route 66 Association, when I spotted him inside of Eisler Brothers Store during this trip. Scott also happens to own the place, and he was busy serving his lunchtime customers in a very crowded store. But I had met Scott before, in 2008, when the store was less busy and he was happy to pose behind the counter, and I could take these photos in a nearly empty shop. We wish him every success with his small business, and with his overseeing of the famous 13.2 miles of Kansas 66. Oh, and the place hasn't changed a bit!
      Eisler Brothers was first opened in 1925 by Leo Williams and his wife Lora, who ran a general store inside and had gas pumps outside to draw in the early Route 66 traffic. Joe and Isabell Eisler of Allen, Texas, purchased and renamed the store in 1973, and operated the business for many years as a local convenience store and 66 attraction. (They even kept the original tin roof that I didn't know about. Never looked up even once.) The Eislers passed on in the late 2000's, and I found a nephew of the former Texans, Scott Nelson, behind the counter during my 2008 visit. In 2011, Mr. Nelson purchased the business from the Eisler's estate.

Missouri Route 66 - Carterville

CARTERVILLE, MISSOURI. 66 roadies heading west may remember the left turn that must be made here at the Carterville Cemetery. And this being Route 66, there must also be at least a few ghosts who haunt the roadside cemetery, and sure enough, apparitions have reportedly appeared here. At least according to Ghosts of America, as good a source of spooky information as there is.

Missouri Route 66 - Carthage

CARTHAGE, MISSOURI. The classic Route 66 Drive-In movie theater was built in 1949, when drive-ins were big. It was closed down for many years as the age of television took hold, but re-opened in the late 1990's. It's still the place to be on a summer night on Route 66.