Texas Highways magazine recently published a feature story about the Circus Room tavern along Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas.
The Amarillo Convention and Visitors Bureau claims it is the “oldest continuous bar on all of Route 66.” More on that later.
But first, the magazine describes what it’s like to stroll through the establishment’s doors:
Stepping inside Circus Room is like entering a different era. Vintage Ringling Brothers posters and clown décor cover the walls, and a lit display case housing a collection of retro clown figurines, smiling their little clown smiles, stands by the front door. An enclave behind the bar holds even more clowns. And when I visit the Amarillo lounge on a cold, mid-December night, even the bartender plays along with the theme, emerging from behind the bar to perform a circus trick of her own: two nearly perfect cartwheels. […]
Ashtrays sit waiting on indoor tables — Circus Room doesn’t have a patio—and the scent of decades of cigarette smoke clings to the walls. (Several prior attempts to ban cigarettes indoors have been unsuccessful.) The most noticeable sign of contemporary times is a digital jukebox, being used solely by a man sitting at a tall table in the back corner of the bar who plays a mix of classic and contemporary country songs. Another man hawks raw rib-eye steaks to patrons from a cooler. Everyone seated at the wooden bar seems to know each other. When I walk in, someone — I can’t tell who — yells, “You traveling? We can tell.”
Wes Reeves, a member of the Amarillo Historical Preservation Foundation, told the reporter that he had found a newspaper clipping tracing the bar’s opening to Jan. 12, 1962. He figured the bar was built because of traffic from a military base nearby.
The base closed, but the Circus Room stayed.
As for whether the Circus Room indeed is the oldest “continuous” — whatever that means — bar on Route 66, I’m doubtful.
The Sultana Bar in Williams, Arizona, opened in 1912 and claims to be the oldest tavern on Route 66. The Luna Cafe in Mitchell, Illinois, dates back to 1924. I’m almost certain others exist that are near the same age.
(Image of the Circus Room tavern’s sign in Amarillo, Texas, via Visit Amarillo)