The landmark Bottle Tree Ranch along Route 66 near Oro Grande, California, reopened Saturday after being closed following the death of its creator, Elmer Long, in July.
Delvin Harbour, a longtime Route 66 enthusiast in California, posted this on Facebook on Saturday:
Long, 72, died June 22 after a bout with lung cancer. The Bottle Tree Ranch was open sporadically after his death, but it closed so his family could grieve his passing and make some renovations on the property. The site was broken into three times after his death.
A Bottle Tree Ranch page on Facebook quoted a family member shortly after Long’s death, saying they’re “determined to make sure it stays around forever.”
Based on his recollections, Long’s roadside park — made of recycled bottles on welded trees and festooned with random objects, including a typewriter — began about the year 2000. It eventually became known worldwide and even became a backdrop in a horror film.
Long almost certainly took inspiration for his property from Miles Mahan’s Half Acre, also known as Hulaville, which had a few bottle trees along with other quirky stuff in nearby Hesperia, California.
Mahan’s Half Acre was bulldozed shortly after Mahan’s death in 1997, although a few artefacts remain on display at the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville.
(Image of Bottle Tree Ranch near Oro Grande, California, by Peter Lawther via Flickr)