Mickey Whiting, one of the men who helped run Whiting Bros. gas stations along Route 66 and the West for several decades and co-founder of Kaibab Industries, died at age 87 on June 2 at his home in Phoenix.
An obituary in several newspapers contained this nugget of information:
In 1952, Mickey was there at the very beginning, when the Whiting Brothers (his dad and three brothers) formed Kaibab Lumber Company in Fredonia. He and his cousin and business partner, E. Jay Whiting, also joined in with the Whiting Brothers and the extended Whiting family, as they built Whiting Bros. Service Stations along Route 66 and throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California, Utah and Nevada.
Kaibab Lumber Company diversified and evolved into Kaibab Industries, Inc. and under his leadership, the company grew to be one of the top 10 privately held companies in Arizona, with 1200 employees, and operations in 8 western states, as well as Mexico.
Whiting Brothers stations were founded in 1926 — the same year U.S. 66 was commissioned — and grew to more than 200 locations and 40 on U.S. 66 alone. Along the Mother Road, Whiting Bros. had stations as far east as Shamrock, Texas, and as far west as Barstow, California.
The Whiting stations quickly declined by the 1970s because of gasoline shortages and their stations being bypassed by Interstate 40. Only one operating station is left on Route 66 in Moriarty, New Mexico, although a few others still are going in southern Arizona. And many ruins of long-abandoned Whiting Bros. stations still can be seen along the old Route 66 corridor out west.
Kaibab Industries essentially was the second-generation business of the Whiting clan.
Mickey Whiting is survived by his wife, Lorana, and his sister Annette Farr, his brother, Norman C. Whiting, and five children.
(Image of Mickey Whiting via Arizona State University)
Ron is pretty much correct about the expanse of the Whiting Brothers gasoline stations. McJerry and I have documented over 50 different WB gas station locations on Route 66/Interstate 40 but Ron is correct in that only about 40 different locations were in existence at one time and that was at the peak of the WB gas business. The Whiting Brothers began numbering their gas stations as they opened them and they reached about 180 but the earliest station locations were not numbered so a good assumption is that they had about 200 different locations for stations over the years (as Ron says) although much fewer than 200 were open at the peak. The western-most gas station on Route 66 was in Lenwood, several miles southwest of Barstow. The western-most location that I have been able to identify was in Mojave, California, on US 466/State Route 58.
Kaibab Industries of today operates three “Whiting” gas stations: #182 in Payson, AZ; #183 in Show Low, AZ; and #184 in Thatcher, AZ. They are painted red and yellow like the “Whiting Brothers” station of old.
In 1968 while traveling from Long Beach, Ca., to Chicago, I stopped at a WB gas station in which a part needed to be replaced. I stayed at the WB Motel that night. I would like to know who owned or leased the WB gas station, I believe the address was 2136 Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Az., 86004. I know there is a Enterprise Car Rental, where the WB motel use to be, and they have added a Roadeside Inn. Any information you can provide regarding the gas station would be greatly appreciated.
As you can tell I’ve written to you before. I got in touch with a friend of yours Jerry McClarahan, and he suggested I get in touch with you. I know at one time 2136 East Santa Fe was Cactus Gardens Auto Court, until the late 1980s at least. By 1988 the station was branded Mobil (number 24) but still operated by the Whiting Brothers. Just two miles East 2138 Santa Fe shared the site with the former WB Motel now Rodeway Inn). The gas station is now the Enterprise Car Rental office. I don’t know if any of this information is useful. I know there is a paper trail on this, that I haven’t figured out yet. Thank you for any assistance you may provide. By the way I’m sure Jerry would want me to say hello from him. Thanks again.
Marie I ran across your comment regarding the Cactus Gardens Auto Court. I was curious if you knew of anyone had any pictures Cactus gardens Auto Court in the 40s?
Thank You,