Anthony Reichardt of Santa Ana, California, drove his 1959 Cadillac down old Route 66 in the fall of 1993 has uploaded several videos from that journey. In them, you’re likely to see things you never may see again.
Such as this look inside — and out — of the West Winds Motel in Erick, Oklahoma, less than a year before its longtime owner died and it closed to overnight travelers.
Reichardt also visited the Twin Arrows Trading Post and Cafe in Twin Arrows, Arizona, before it closed about two years later.
He visited Pop Hicks restaurant in Clinton, Oklahoma, before it was destroyed by fire in 1999 and never rebuilt.
And, finally, Reichardt visited Jackrabbit Trading Post in Jackrabbit, Arizona, and longtime owner Phil Blansett. He sold the property in 1995 to his daughter and son-in-law. The Jackrabbit still operates.
Reichardt says the videos had been “sitting in a box in a closet for a long time.” Recently, he began digitizing them to DVD and uploading segments to YouTube.
You can follow his channel here.
(Screen capture image of the West Winds Motel in Erick, Oklahoma, in 1993)