Tulsa’s fabulous Warehouse Market October 23, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Businesses, History, Preservation.add a comment
The Journal Record published an excellent story about the historic Warehouse Market building, an art deco gem, on 11th Street (aka Route 66) in Tulsa.
Built in 1929, the building was designed by B. Gaylord Nofstger with lots of terra cotta.
Its entryway borrowed heavily from the famous patterns used with Chicago’s Commercial Building, mixing neo-classical medallions and geometric designs cast in blue, green, red and gold. Nofstger lifted the terra cotta into the spreading parapet, then leapt past the vertical yellow brick tower to crown it with a variety of blue, red and white crisscross designs against a vine motif and several Native American elements.
The Warehouse Market building became Club Lido for a short time, hosting Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. After that, it became a grocery again until the 1970s, when it closed and started to deteriorate. But here’s probably the most remarkable part of the Warehouse Market building story:
In 1993 Home Depot acquired the 14-acre site, clearing out the open-air markets for construction of a downtown store. But the chain preserved the 10,000-square-foot Warehouse Market, spending more than $1 million to repair the structure.
We at Route 66 don’t often praise large chain stores, as their approach to historic preservation is frequently nonexistent. However, Home Depot did the right thing here. If Home Depot hadn’t gone the extra mile, it’s very doubtful the building would still be here to enthrall Route 66 travelers.
A look at the Warehouse Market by Google Street View can be seen here.
New mural in Cuba October 22, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Attractions, Businesses, History, People, Towns.add a comment
The new mural at My Place Tires in Cuba, Mo. Photo by Ray Harvey, courtesy of Jane Reed.
Cuba, Mo., which now is being called Mural City for good reason, sports a new mural at My Place Tires, at 1203 W. Washington St. (aka Route 66).
According to the Cuba Free Press, the mural was painted by Missouri artist Ray Harvey.
“The location on Route 66 and the attention the art will receive prompted a design that said ‘nostalgia,’” stated Harvey. “The painting is designed to look like a mid-century tire ad, including the popular ’62 Corvette and a vintage-style tire dealer in uniform.”
Harvey also painted the Bette Davis mural on the Cuba Free Press building, as well as the mural panels on the Bill Wallis/history mural at the four-way stop, both along Route 66.
According to Harvey’s Web site, this is the sixth mural he’s painted in Cuba.
On another note about Cuba, here’s a blog post from the Viva Cuba site about the “Echos from the Past” tour last weekend. Participants rode a trolley while key historical figures from Cuba’s past told their stories near their final resting places at the local cemetery. Lots of photos and fascinating stuff there.
“Still ain’t nothing to see …” October 22, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
Here’s a new song, “You Can’t Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” by Honey Don’t.
I don’t agree entirely with the sentiment about the Mother Road, but these lines are a keeper:
“Now, they got that freeway, honey, but it don’t feel free to me … you can drive all day, but there still ain’t nothing to see.”
The song is as catchy as the swine flu, and whoever shot and edited the video did a great job.
A closer look at the Grand Canyon Railway October 22, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Businesses, Railroad.1 comment so far
The Payson (Ariz.) Roundup published an interesting article about the history and features of the Grand Canyon Railway.
Embarking from the Route 66 town of Williams, Ariz., it’s a popular and scenic way to head to the Grand Canyon.
A few interesting things about the railway that I didn’t know:
- This year marks its 20th anniversary, although the original rail line is more than 100 years old.
- Xanterra, owner of the railway, also owns the railroad equipment of the Grand Luxe Railway, formerly the famed American Orient Express. It is rumored, the newspaper reports, that Xanterra will rebuild the luxury train and use it to travel to national parks.
- An early 1900s steam engine was rebuilt by the Grand Canyon Railway and now runs on reconstituted vegetable oil.
- Next month, the railway will begin its re-creation of “The Polar Express” children’s book and movie. “The Polar Express Train leaves from the Williams depot at 6:30 p.m. each evening through the holidays and travels to a brightly lit set designed to appear to be the North Pole. The children see Santa and his helpers as they wave to the passengers. Upon departure, Santa comes aboard and presents each child with special gift.”
A story about Tattoo Man October 22, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in People.4 comments
Ron Jones talks about his Route 66 tattoos in front of a sophomore English class in Tulsa.
Story by Emily Priddy’s sixth-hour sophomore English II class, Webster High School, Tulsa.
Ron Jones has 81 tattoos.
“It’s like a potato chip. Once you eat one potato chip, it’s addictive. It’s like a drug,” he said.
The Bartlesville, Okla., resident visited Webster High School’s English II classes Thursday, Oct. 8, to tell students about his Route 66 tattoo collection.
His most expensive tattoo cost $550 and took six hours to finish. His cheapest one was $60.
He has spent $15,000 to $16,000 on tattoos.
He has tattoos on his back, legs, and arms.
Six different people have done his tattoos. A man named Gypsy from Kansas is the artist for 25 of his tattoos.
Jones has been collecting tattoos for 10 years.
His first one was a Route 66 shield with the highway in the background. It was on his right calf.
His newest tattoo was Hamons Court, which is an old hotel on Route 66 near Hydro, Okla.
His definition of Route 66 is, “Life begins at the off-ramp.”
His favorite tattoo is of his car, a 1956 Chevy.
Out of the 81 tattoos he has, he only has one non-Route 66 tattoo, which is an Eskimo Joe design.
His wife likes his tattoos, but his dad hates them. When he found out about the tattoos, he was furious, Jones said.
He doesn’t regret any of his tattoos.
(Postscript: Priddy’s English classes are using a Route 66 theme. The kids earn “miles” instead of points, with the goal of reaching Santa Monica by the end of the semester. They chart their progress on a map designed to resemble the old “Here we are …” postcards, and we are reading excerpts from Route 66-related texts such as “Route 66: The Mother Road” and “The Grapes of Wrath.”)
Route 66 walker update October 21, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in People, Road trips.add a comment
The Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald caught up with 71-year-old Emory Duick and his quest to walk all of Route 66.
According to the newspaper, Duick had made his way to the Albuquerque area two days ago. He has less than 1,000 miles to go to Santa Monica, and covers about 10 miles a day.
Duick said he has received a heartwarming reception all along the route.
“A lot of people have been empathetic with my cause,” he said. “When you get outside the big city, there’s a friendliness there. There’s an openness there that’s genuine. Here they took it to heart.” [...]
Duick said the worst thing that happened to him on the walk was a sciatic nerve attack in Oklahoma City.
“I’m not hurting,” he said. “I just can’t push off. The power isn’t there. I’ve worn three pairs (of sneakers) out and I’m on my fourth pair. I had blistering in the beginning but my feet have toughened up over 1,300 miles. All I can do is take it one day at a time and pray to God to help give me strength to do it.”
Duick said he’s doing the walk to inspire fellow senior citizens to a more active lifestyle. He figures if he can walk 2,300 miles, ordinary folks can squeeze in a little exercise.
Vega Motel goes on auction block October 20, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation.add a comment
The historic Vega Motel on Route 66 in Vega, Texas, is going to be the subject of a sealed-bid auction because of delinquent taxes.
Here’s the notice about the auction:
Oldham County Appraisal District is taking sealed bids on the Vega Motel, Lots Numbered Six (6), Seven (7), Eight (8), Nine (9) and Ten (10), in Block Numbered Fifty-two (52), in the City of Vega, Oldham County, Texas. Bids should be mailed to Oldham County Appraisal District, P.O. Box 310, Vega, TX 79092 or delivered to 703 Vega Blvd., Vega, TX on or before December 30, 2009. No bids will be accepted from anyone with delinquent taxes. For more information call 806-267-2442 or e-mail oldhamcad@amaonline.com.
The previous owners, Harry and Tresa Whaley, ran the motel lovingly for years. But it eventually closed because of Harry’s health problems and tragedies on Tresa’s side of the family.
Here’s a description from Legends of America of the motel during its latter-day Route 66 peak:
The Vega Motel, though updated today, still retains its vintage flavor with antique furnishings, individual covered carports, a broad courtyard, original pink and red brick-look exterior, and sheets dried in the West Texas sun. Originally built in 1947 by Mr. and Mrs. E.M. Pancoast, it was first called Vega Court when it catered to the many Route 66 travelers during the Mother Road’s heydays.
Here’s a vintage postcard of the motel. The main motel units have changed little. There is even new neon tubing for the Vega Motel’s sign that is in storage at the property.
A room at the Vega Motel was featured prominently in the video of Vince Gill’s 1990 hit single, “Never Knew Lonely.” Alas, the video was on YouTube, but apparently has been taken down.
Since it’s essentially a tax auction for the Vega Motel, someone has a great opportunity to buy a vintage Route 66 business on the cheap. Perhaps a resourceful entrepreneur can acquire it, and the Vega Motel can rise again as a beacon of the Mother Road.
Edwardsville to bring back Route 66 festival October 20, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events.1 comment so far
After a one-year hiatus, the Route 66 Festival in Edwardsville, Ill., will return in 2010, reports the Edwardsville Intelligencer.
Edwardsville and nearby Glen Carbon decided this year to combine forces, along with coinciding an event with Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville’s Homecoming, for a Fall Fest in early October.
However, the story makes it clear that poor weather conditions — plus a lack of communication between the chamber of commerce and the city – made Fall Fest a less-than-successful one:
“The city staff did not realize the chamber elected to abandon the June event to do an event in the fall,” Dickmann said. “We were led to believe for a period of time … the chamber would do the same thing in October it had done in June.”
Dickmann said by the time the city found out it needed to plan the events, it was too late in the game to plan as large an event as the Route 66 Festival.
A lack of shuttle services and mechanical problems with inflatable attractions for children also hampered the event.
It seems the city now simply wishes to go back to organizing an event it knows — the Route 66 Festival in June at City Park. And I suspect the city now will try to communicate more regularly with the chamber and vice versa.
Vintage gas station is the real thing October 20, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Gas stations, Preservation.2 comments
This isn’t on Route 66, but it’s so cool and unique that it’s noteworthy.
The town of La Grande, Ore., contains a 1959 Texaco gas station that actually works for its intended purpose. There are plenty of well-preserved vintage gas stations around the country, but this is the only one that I’m aware of that actually uses the old equipment and offers full-service.
From the La Grande Observer:
The new “filling’’ station is becoming a haven for nostalgia lovers. Its features include:
• Attendants wearing 1950s and 1960s vintage Texaco uniforms. The men and women automatically wash the windshield of each vehicle with paper towels, not squeegees, and ask customers if they want their oil checked. Once under the hood attendants examine windshield wiper fluid levels and more.
• Vintage-style pumps providing Fire Chief (regular) and Sky Chief (supreme) gasoline, names no longer used at regular Texaco stations. The fuel sold at The Gas Station is Texaco-brand fuel; it is not generic.
The pumps have old-style meters.
“They are easier to reset than computerized ones,’’ said Wayne Marks, a station attendant.
• A station office filled with memorabilia like old framed ads for Texaco products including one for “ … Top Octane Sky Chief, Super Charged with Petrox’’ and motor oil that is “wax and tar free.’’ The office also has a display of automotive product cans, which disappeared from the market long ago.
Subtle features adding to the station’s old-style authenticity include 1950s vintage lights and bathroom fixtures and floor tiles.
“We found the original 1959 blueprints (of the Texaco station) and restored it almost everything exactly as it was,’’ Gregory said.
The Rev. Hank Albrecht is the station’s owner, and he’d been working seven years to restore it. The Gas Station opened in the past week or so.
In the coming weeks, coming will be ice-chest Coca-Cola dispenser, a garage for repairs and air pumps. Checking customers’ tire pressure during a fill-up be part of the full-service duties once the air pumps are installed.
Here’s another photo of The Gas Station. It’s a beaut.
The Gas Station is at 1508 Adams Ave. in La Grande (map here). It is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
A closer look at El Rancho Grande October 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Preservation, Restaurants, Signs.2 comments
Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers has published a well-done article about El Rancho Grande, the oldest surviving restaurant on 11th Street (aka Route 66) in Tulsa.
The news hook is the restaurant’s recently restored and unique neon sign. But the story also contains a nice overview about the development of Tex-Mex cuisine in Tulsa (and the United States in general).
Enterprising folks found ways to divert trickles from the river of a highway into their diners and eateries for a short stopover and some good old American food before proceeding on down the restless road.
El Rancho Grande was just such a place, only the food was decidedly not diner food, or even American for that matter, but just as fast and just as coveted by both travelers and locals. It was called Tex-Mex, a coupling of Mexican and particularly Texas cuisines with an emphasis on chili powder, cumin and garlic seasoning, and with lots of meat and cheese ingredients. Tex-Mex was a hearty workingman’s cuisine. It reached the table quickly, was cheap and “stuck to your ribs.” It had already found a home in the Austin, Texas area from where the restaurant’s original owners Francisco and Guadalupe Rodriquez came. They left the Lone Star State in the 1940s because it had become saturated with small mom and pop restaurants devoted to Tex-Mex.
They apparently were in a hurry to introduce Tulsa to this new hybrid menu because they wasted no time in setting up a tamale wagon in the downtown area. This gave way to a small downtown restaurant. As far as anyone can tell it was the first Tex-Mex food being served in the city. Then in 1953 an ad appears in the city directory confirming El Rancho Grande Tex-Mex restaurant had moved to its current location on 11th Street. Not long after (know one is sure when) the wonderful old neon sign with its flashing bulb-lit arrow appeared on the front of the building pointing motorist to Tulsa’s newly located El Rancho Grande Mexican Food restaurant. [...]
“We’ve tried very hard to maintain all the original Tex-Mex ingredients and recipes. When a long time customer tells us we’ve succeeded in preserving the El Rancho Grande Tex-Mex tradition, nothing could make us happier,” says (co-owner) John Walden.
El Rancho Grande’s Web site is here.