Open house at the Boots Motel, pre-renovation September 11, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, History, Motels, Preservation.1 comment so far
When we went Sunday afternoon to the open house at the Boots Motel in Carthage, Mo., tour guide Ron Hart of the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce said about 500 people had already visited the historic Route 66 business over the weekend — a number that astounded him and the motel’s new owners.
The open house gave Route 66 enthusiasts and local residents a chance to see the inside of the motel before renovation efforts begin in earnest. Sisters Debye Harvey and Priscilla Bledsaw purchased the Boots a few weeks ago after the property had been foreclosed.
The sisters plan to renovate the motel to a circa-1949 look, including the original flat roof, period furnishings, and “a radio in every room.” Hart says the owners won’t be so slavishly devoted to that era to forego modern electrical wiring and Wi-Fi. But, ultimately, the plan is to return the Boots Motel to its post-war appearance, reopen it as a motel, and place it on the National Register of Historic Places.
Harvey and Bledsaw weren’t at the motel Sunday afternoon, but Hart proved a capable guide of the premises. One thing he and the sisters recently discovered was the front of the building originally served as a gas station for a short time. Cracks in the sidewalk where the gas pumps stood were visible.
At the front office is this room, which served as men’s and women’s restrooms.
It’s believed the original incarnation as a gas station lasted for a short time, due to several competing gas stations just down the street. So the owner built the motel in 1939 because it was a more lucrative venture.
Hart showed Room 6 of the 14-room motel. It’s notable because that’s where actor Clark Gable reputedly stayed overnight during a cross-country trip.
Country-music artists Smiley Burnette and Gene Autry also reportedly stayed at the motel.
One closet door contains the original teardrop-shaped doorknob hardware. The sisters are looking for more of this vintage hardware for the rest of the motel’s doors.
Virtually all of the bathrooms contain the original tile floor as well.
Another original feature of the motel is several of these lighting fixtures just outside of the carports.
The carports remain one of the most unusual features of the motel. This allowed motorists to pull their cars right next to the door of their rooms. Few motels on Route 66 with these amenities still exist.
Hart noted the carports contained a built-in cabinet in one of the walls. These cabinets were used to store motor oil or tools for the guests’ cars.
The southwest corner of the main building is leaning.
However, Hart said a structural engineer said trying to correct the leaning would create more problems than it would solve. The engineer recommended simply stabilizing the structure as is, and it would be fine for many more years.
Hart also showed the four rooms in the back building of the motel, which was built in 1946. The wood floors make the rooms quite attractive.
Hart said those four rooms would be rented out as office space to generate income for the motel’s renovations. It’s hoped to have a few of the motel’s rooms ready for overnight guests by spring 2012.
Hart guided us into the back building’s basement, which provides access to a tunnel system that snakes under the other motel building.
The tunnel was used to run electrical, water, heat, and other utility lines to the rooms. The tunnel’s latent ground temperature would prevent water pipes from freezing. Hart noted that a water heater for several of the rooms also was installed in the tunnel as well.
In the basement, Hart showed the two pink metal chairs that stood in front the motel for many years.
In a corner was a wall sign that once was used on one of the building’s exterior walls.
More about the history of the Boots Motel and its future preservation can be found here. If you have period doorknob hardware or other such furnishings that might be suitable for the motel, you’re encouraged to call property manager Ron Hart at 417-385-6966.
UPDATE 9/21/2011: The Carthage Press published a follow-up on the open house, including a visit by the son of Boots Motel founder Arthur Boots.
Man builds veterans monument near Oatman September 11, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, People.1 comment so far
Eighty-year-old Charles “Uncle Charlie” Hicks has built a monument to war veterans just off Route 66 south of Oatman, Ariz., reported the Mojave Daily News.
There, on a high ridge of cliffs just off of Mile Marker 21, you’ll see an American flag blowing in the breeze. Next to it is a small stone monument to America’s fallen veterans [...]
The memorial, which consists of two stone pedestals and a series of stairs, was almost single-handedly built by Charles “Uncle Charlie” Hicks, a local 80-year-old veteran who himself served in the Korean War. [...]
[I]n late 2009, he decided to build a memorial for his late brother-in-law, World War II veteran Joe Van Landingham, who had died several years prior. It wasn’t until he finished the memorial in March of 2010, however, that Hicks decided to rededicate it to all U.S. veterans, with a special shout out to his fellow Korean War vets, many of whom died so that he and so many others might live. [...]
The memorial is constructed almost entirely of rocks that Hicks salvaged from the surrounding desert, which he cemented together using nearly 18 bags of cement. On top of the pedestal, he also cemented in several pieces of ammunition he’s collected ovoer the years, each corresponding to a different American conflict: the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and Vietnam. He said the initial pedestal took about three months to complete, but he has since continued to add to it, first constructing the stairs leading up to the memorial, then adding a second pedestal to house a lockbox for cash donations, which he said started showing up spontaneously shortly after he completed the first pedestal.
Ellen DeLong at the Ocotillo Gallery in Oatman said many Route 66 travelers have mentioned visiting the memorial.
The memorial is just off Route 66, about 1.5 miles south of Boundary Cone Road. The dirt road leading to the memorial is on the right going south, almost directly across from mile marker 21.
The nine monuments of Cajon Pass September 11, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, History.add a comment
Mark Landis, correspondent for the San Bernardino County Sun, posted a story today about the little-known nine monuments found along Cajon Pass, aka Interstate 15 and Route 66.
American Indians, then pioneers, made their way down the pass for hundreds of years until roads finally were built. Most of the monuments pay tribute to the white settlers and the hardships they endured during their journeys.
According to the article, most of the monuments are accessible by car. Here’s a listing, along with a link to a photo if available:
- Stoddard-Waite Monument (accessible only by special permission)
- Santa Fe and Salt Lake Trail Monument
- Sycamore Grove Monument
- Mohave Trail Monument (four-wheel drive recommended)
- Mormon Trail Monument
- Pioneer Woman Monument
- Mormon Pioneer Trail (accessible only by permission)
- Blue Cut
- Summit Train Station Monument
“Dust in the Wind” September 11, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, Television.add a comment
This song by Kansas has been embroidered into a tribute to Martin Milner, co-star of the “Route 66″ television series of the early 1960s.
A tour of the Boots Motel September 10, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation.1 comment so far
This excellent video by blogger Ace Jackalope was shot during this weekend’s open house of the Boots Motel in Carthage, Mo.
Ron Hart of the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce is the one showing Ace around one of the motel’s rooms — and the tunnel system underneath.
Sisters Priscilla Bledsaw and Debye Harvey bought the motel a few weeks ago and plan to restore it to its original 1946-era look.
Three Route 66 sites receive Tulsa Preservation awards September 10, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Preservation, Railroad, Signs.add a comment
Three sites on Route 66 in Tulsa were among the 13 honored today by the Tulsa Preservation Commission‘s Outreach Committee, according to an article in the Tulsa World.
The annual awards are given to projects that “demonstrate good stewardship of a historic resource, increase awareness and access to a historic resource, or save a historic resource that is in decline.”
This year’s Route 66-related honorees include the Campbell Hotel, at 2636 E. 11th St.:
“Their careful rehabilitation project included restoration of the original windows and returning the facade to its original look, including awnings and the blade sign above the entrance,” DeCort said.
Aaron Meek, president of Group M Investment, said he bought the building in 2008 with the thought that it could be turned into loft apartments.
“But after we started looking into it, we thought, ‘We can turn this back into a hotel,’ ” he said. “It was more fitting for what it was set up for.”
The 1927 hotel now serves as an upscale boutique establishment, near the University of Tulsa campus.
The second award goes to the historic Meadow Gold sign at 11th Street and Quaker Ave., which was dismantled and saved in 2004 when its owner threatened to demolish it. The letters and neon tubing were refurbished, and the sign was re-erected at its current location in 2009.
Finally, the Frisco Meteor 4500 steam locomotive at Route 66 Village at 3700 Southwest Boulevard (aka Route 66) also was recognized. Preservationists beautifully restored the steam engine and moved it to its current location a few months ago, along with a caboose and a passenger car. The video below shows the day when it was moved to its final spot:
Avilla residents make plea to save post office September 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Towns.3 comments
About 35 residents attended a public hearing Thursday to plead with the U.S. Postal Service to not close the post office in Avilla, Mo., as a part of cost-cutting measures, reported the Carthage Press.
Thirty-five doesn’t sound like much — until you realize that Avilla’s population, according to the 2000 Census, was about 130. (2010 Census figures for all towns aren’t yet available.)
A few choice excerpts from the story:
“I have a book Marvin VanGilder had written about our history and a lot of our history is gone,” said Avilla Mayor Rosemary Lombard. “This post office has been here since I was a little kid and it’s so handy and we want it for our town. It’s a historical site, Route 66 runs right by here and I watch those people take pictures. This would be a big blow to the community to lose this post office, we’re proud of it.” [...]
“It’s just one of the icons that’s been on the road for years and it’s one of the few post offices that is on the Route,” said Tommy Pike, Springfield, president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri. “There’s one in Devil’s Elbow, but everything like that that you lose is gone. It’s an asset to this community and it really needs to be saved. I can see that the people here are not happy about it closing. I wasn’t too happy either, when I heard about it.”
Here’s the link to about 12 small-town post offices on Route 66 that would be closed under the proposal. In total, more than 3,600 post offices across the country are targeted. And the postmaster general earlier this week said the U.S. Postal Service may default if drastic measures aren’t taken.
Land deal expands Petrified Forest National Park September 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions.6 comments
The Petrified Forest National Park in eastern Arizona is expanding by 26,500 acres following a land deal with the estate of a local rancher, reported the New York Times.
The acquisition enlarges the park about 25 percent. The new land is to the east and west of its current boundaries.
The Times had some details about the long-percolating land deal involving Marvin Hatch:
Negotiations stretched over years, but a deal was never reached.
“He was firm,” Mr. Ford said of the owner. “He wanted $500 an acre. He believed it was worth considerably more than that and he locked on that number.”
When talks failed, Mr. Hatch sought to turn the land into a private park, building giant concrete dinosaurs along I-40 to attract visitors to a museum and natural area that he billed the International Petrified Forest. Scientists feared that the private effort would lead to the poaching of fossils and petrified remains by tourists.
After Mr. Hatch died several years ago, with his park never truly taking off, his sons re-started talks to sell the ranchland. The agreed-upon price was $300 an acre, which came to roughly $8 million, officials said.
Route 66 once went right through the park, and it has a display devoted to the remnants of the Mother Road there.
It’s unknown how this land acquisition will affect access — if at all — to the ruins of the Painted Desert Trading Post, which is east of the park’s main entrance on Pinta Road.
The best overview yet of the Cars Land project September 9, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Movies.add a comment
The Mouse Planet site posted today the best overview yet of the Cars Land amusement park that’s being constructed at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calf.
The post contains dozens of images of the plans, construction photos, and other displays from the recent D23 Expo for Disney enthusiasts.
Cars Land is inspired by Radiator Springs, the fictional Route 66 town depicted in the 2006 Disney-Pixar film “Cars.” Cars Land is slated to open in summer 2012.
The funny part is that Cars Land has been on Disney’s drawing board for a long time:
Imagineer Kevin Rafferty noted that the concept had been around for a while, and that the area was originally called “Car Land.” The land was to play off of California’s car culture, and the main strip would be “Cruise Street,” themed to 1955-1965, when cars became less about transportation and more about personal expression. Food would have included Marty’s Drive-In, with carhop service. The Road Trip, U.S.A. attraction would have started with a ride past California Crazy architecture, with a cross-country trip past many roadside landmarks ending in a ride through a Nature’s Wonderland-type cavern. It even included a ride through a car wash, where guests not on the ride could squirt those in the cars. “And then John actually took a look at that and said ‘You know what? Maybe you should think about more characters,” said Rafferty. [...]
At first, the idea was to use all sorts of Disney characters. Goofy About Road Trips would have followed Goofy’s driving antics as he traveled around the country. Herbie the Love Bug would have had a role in Car Land, as well. One attraction would have been Junkyard Jamboree, where cars would come to life and play music for the cars that would begin dancing. WhenCars came out and was a big hit, elements of the movie were added. Sally’s Road Rally ran through and around the town. The final model had Cruise Street as the main strip, Luigi’s Casa Della Tiies, and Radiator Springs Racers in the back of the area. In the summer of 2007, the team presented the concept to Lasseter, who said “why not just turn Car Land into Cars Land. Let’s build Radiator Springs.” [...]
Food plays an important part on Route 66, and it hasn’t been left out in Radiator Springs, either. Flo’s V8 Cafe is a gas station, because food is to humans as gas is to cars. Flo’s serves a role similar to that of a small-town diner, where everybody would gather and eat and chat and deal with the town’s problems. The Cozy Cone Motel will serve as a food location, serving various cone-themed eats. Fillmore’s Taste-In (where Fillmore would sell his organic fuel) will serve as a beverage location.
There will be two main shops in Carsland. Radiator Springs Curios will sell odd and ends and other ephemera, while Ramone’s Paint Shop will be the major merchandise location for the land.
The post also contains details about the various rides in Cars Land, including Radiator Springs Racers, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, and Luigi’s Flying Tires.
This video also shows some of the Radiator Springs projects, and a Disney Imagineer describing the Radiator Springs Racers:
Notes from the road September 8, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Motels, Museums, Preservation, Restaurants, Road trips, Theaters.add a comment
I’ve got a few short items that I need to pass along. One is that the 100th Meridian Museum in Erick, Okla., received a new paint job a few weeks ago.
The museum can be seen pre-face-lift here.
Locals told us it was repainted by Jimmy Webb — a local painter, not the famous songwriter who hails from nearby Elk City.
The museum remains open only sporadically or by appointment. It tends to be overshadowed by the museum across the street to native son Roger Miller.
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We recently enjoyed coffee and homemade snacks at the new Circa espresso bar, attached to the Historic Route 66 Motel in Tucumcari, N.M. The Art Deco-inspired establishment has been open for a few weeks, and includes free Wi-Fi.
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The Chicago Tribune published a story about two historic fried-chicken palaces that are within a few miles of each other on Route 66 — Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket and White Fence Farm. Both places serve excellent food.
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The Tulsa World reports that the Blue Whale of Catoosa, Okla., is the subject of a new rock opera at Nightingale Theater in nearby Tulsa, titled “Blue Whale of Catoosa,” appropriately enough. The curtain will rise on the production for the next three weekends.
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Kevin and Nancy Mueller, the new owners of the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., are asking for photographs of the motel’s building during its Lillian Redman days or shortly after. The couple wants to return the structures back to its original pink coral color, and need older photographs to compare. They can be contacted at the website.
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Jim Hinckley, author of “Ghost Towns of Route 66″ and other such books, will go on a short book-signing tour next month. Stops so far include the Berwyn Route 66 Museum in Berwyn, Ill.; the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Mo.; Route 66 Museum in Lebanon, Mo.; and the Powers Museum in Carthage, Mo. Go here to check the dates, times and future additions to Hinckley’s itinerary. Authors Joe Sonderman and David Clark will join Hinckley on part of the tour.
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A reminder: The new owners of the Boots Motel in Carthage, Mo., will hold an open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday, before the restoration efforts begin in earnest.
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Finally, here’s this video about the Ride for the Relay cancer fund-raiser that made a stop a few days ago at Afton Station in Afton, Okla.