Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow near Barstow, California, recently dedicated a 6-foot-tall metal sculpture, signs and road stencils where the military service’s eagle, globe and anchor emblem also comes with a Route 66 shield.
The Stars and Stripes newspaper had the story:
The symbol, made up of a highway shield superimposed over the service’s emblem, is found on signs lining the shoulder of Joseph L. Boll Avenue, an original part of U.S. Highway 66 at Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow.
The modified emblem recognizes the road’s ties to the logistics hub, which “has the privilege of being the only military base that has Route 66 running straight through it,” said Jason Thompson, the installation’s environmental director, who oversees its historical preservation program, in an email this week.
The road section has been off-limits to the public since 1964, after Interstate 40 was built. But officials who get their kicks from preserving history came up with the emblem redesign in 2019 to bring more attention to it as a cultural resource.
It’s also painted in large stencils on the pavement of that 1.7-mile stretch of road, which passes the commissary and Leatherneck Lanes bowling alley.
It was used to decorate the base’s Marine Corps birthday cake, and it was memorialized in a towering sculpture of gleaming brass and steel.
Headquarters Marine Corps approved and trademarked the emblem after it first was unanimously approved by the California Historic Route 66 Association.
A bronze plaque outside of the base details its history with Route 66. It reads in part: “MCLB Barstow takes pride in the fact that it is the only military installation with an original segment of the U.S. Route 66 transiting directly through it. We acknowledge with honor, the achievements of all who sacrificed for the freedom and prosperity of the United States of America.”
Alas, the only way to see the sculpture and signs is if one has permission to go inside the base. Perhaps the California association can make arrangements for a tour bus to visit it at some point.
(Image of the ribbon-cutting last month for the Route 66, Eagle, Globe and Anchor statue via the Facebook page of Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow)