“My Town” September 13, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Uncategorized.add a comment
Dennis Beck and his longtime music group, the James River Band, grew up in the Route 66 town of Marshfield, Mo. The video for this song, “My Town,” includes vintage footage from Marshfield and plenty of reminisces as well.
http://youtu.be/zc770HH9z70
As a bonus, here’s another James River Band song that mentions Route 66:
(Hat tip: Rich Dinkela)
A culinary tour September 12, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Food, Restaurants, Road trips, Signs.1 comment so far
The Food Channel (not to be confused with the Food Network) posted this clip about many restaurant signs along the Mother Road and some non-food landmarks as well.
More Route 66 signs installed in Oklahoma City September 12, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Highways, Signs, Towns.add a comment
Finishing a four-year project, Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation installed about 30 Route 66 road signs in the metro area, reported The Oklahoman newspaper.
State Sen. David Holt said it was done to help direct Route 66 travelers through the city.
Holt [...] noted there were only a half-dozen or so signs marking the route through the metro, five of them at one intersection. Holt thought there had to be a better marking.
The city named this portion of the road the official Route 66 Scenic Byway because it largely is the location used from 1929 to 1954 during the heyday of Route 66.
That route, from west to east, follows NW 36 to NW 39 Expressway, briefly follows Interstate 44, turns south at May Avenue, east at NW 23, north at N Lincoln Boulevard, follows I-44 again until turning north at Kelley.
It then leaves Oklahoma City just north of Memorial Road before coming back into the city for 3 more miles east of Arcadia along NE 192.
Whew! See why it was confusing?
The city’s cost was a shade under $3,000.
The city also worked with Oklahoma Route 66 Association President Mike Hickey to point out landmarks that would get their own signs.
I had recently heard OKC was installing more Route 66 signs in the metro area, and noted it had become easier to follow the Mother Road through there.
New Web address, same site September 12, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Web sites.add a comment
Those of you who surfed here during the weekend may have noticed the “route66news.com” in your browser address bar being replaced by “route66news.com.”
That’s because I used a tool that WordPress.com offers called domain mapping. It basically slaps a new domain name over the old, although the original domain remains operational.
I used “rwarn17588″ in the domain for years because it was a variation of an old e-mail, plus “route66news.com” wasn’t yet available. I thought I was stuck with that clunky old domain, until WordPress started offering mapping a few months ago. Route66news.com obviously is easier to remember and type, so it didn’t take much persuasion to use it.
As for you readers, you shouldn’t have to do anything. Old links to this site should continue to work fine. There may be a hiccup (like I experienced) when you surf for the first time to the new domain, but it should clear up for good when you hit the refresh button on your browser.
Otherwise, Route 66 News remains the same, except for its simpler and more concise URL address.
Mixing the metaphors September 12, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Religion.add a comment
One of the fellers from the “Route 66: A Road Trip through the Bible” needs to keep his cliches straight.
This entry covers the third book of John.
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.