Just in time for the Halloween season, Kathy Weiser's massive Legends of America site is touting its large collection of ghost stories and other unexplained phenomena along Route 66, according to a recent press release. The list includes the haunted Lemp Mansion in St. Louis, the haunted Oatman Hotel, and the notorious Spook Light. They're … Continue reading A gaggle of ghost stories
Author: Ron Warnick
I'm the editor and publisher of Route 66 News, a clearinghouse of events, information, and entertainment pertaining to historic U.S. 66, the Mother Road.
“Cars” DVD screen shots
UltimateDisney.com has posted a bunch of screen shots from the upcoming Disney-Pixar "Cars" DVD, including a scene from the "Mater and the Ghostlight" short (shown above). Check 'em out. The Ghostlight, incidentally, is based on the real-life Spooklight near Route 66 at the Missouri-Oklahoma-Kansas border. The street date for the DVD version of the hit … Continue reading “Cars” DVD screen shots
Popping up
Nearly five months after its groundbreaking ceremony, Pops -- an unusual gas station that will lure tourists with a 66-foot-tall soda bottle lit with LEDs out front, a collection of 12,000 soda bottles inside, and an elaborate, futuristic canopy cantilevered over the gas pumps -- is beginning to rise from the red Oklahoma dirt in … Continue reading Popping up
$1 million for Joplin-area tourism
The Joplin (Mo.) Globe reports that city budget plans include $1 million in spending to promote area tourism. Included is $63,000 for entryway beautification, which includes Route 66. Next year, the bureau is looking to construct a sign at the southwest corner of North Florida Avenue and Zora Street that has a Route 66 theme … Continue reading $1 million for Joplin-area tourism
A street is hoppin’ in Joplin
Joplin (Mo.) Globe columnist Mike Pound reports that Broadway in Joplin, which is part of an old alignment of Route 66, seems to be undergoing a traffic resurgence. The restaurants along the street are busier, and a promising lunch-only place called the Cobblestone Cafe has opened there. The cafe, which has been open for three … Continue reading A street is hoppin’ in Joplin
Grand Canyon Railway sold
The Grand Canyon Railway, which starts in the Route 66 town of Williams, Ariz., and takes tourists to the canyon's South Rim, has been sold to a Colorado firm that runs concessions in the canyon, reports the Phoenix Business Journal. Xanterra Parks and Resorts hopes to formally close the deal by next month. Max and … Continue reading Grand Canyon Railway sold
Scenic Byways grants awarded
The New Mexico Tourism Department has given out $473,000 in grants through the Federal Highway Administration's Scenic Byways program for the fiscal year. Here are the grants that affect Route 66, according to Travel Daily News: Historic Route 66 Bike and Pedestrian Path Construction in Gallup ($50,000): This joint-use path along the Route 66 Scenic … Continue reading Scenic Byways grants awarded
Born on Route 66
Occasionally, I run into someone who says he was "born on Route 66." This isn't meant to be literal; it means the house or hospital where he first breathed life was adjacent to the Mother Road. But now, there's now one child in New Mexico who can truly make that "born on 66" claim. KOB-TV … Continue reading Born on Route 66
Roadside kitsch updates
One of the best (and funniest) Web sites is Roadside America. Inspired and created by the same people who wrote the classic 1992 book of the same name, it's a huge Web site about kitschy roadside attractions and is updated regularly. Roadside America filed recent field reports about two stops on Route 66. One is … Continue reading Roadside kitsch updates
Photo of Route 66 business wins recognition
Two Bureau of Land Management-California employees were honored at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington last week for public land photography, according to the bureau's newsletter. One of them was Steve Razo (left in above photo), whose photo of Roy's in Amboy was one of the recognized images. Razo's photo is of a well-preserved section of … Continue reading Photo of Route 66 business wins recognition