A schoolteacher in Indiana is spending this summer traveling on Route 66, taking art classes and following her muse, thanks to a grant, reports the The Post & Mail in Colombia City, Ind. Sarah Corey, who teaches at Indian Springs Middle School, received $8,000 from the Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship. Throughout the trip she’ll … Continue reading Nice way to spend a summer
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.
County seeks money for Route 66 bike trail
Here's an interesting item from the Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph about the McLean County Board meeting on Tuesday: Also at its meeting, the County Board voted unanimously to apply for $2.4 million in federal grant money to turn the abandoned sections of Old Route 66 near Funks Grove into a bike trail. Total cost of the … Continue reading County seeks money for Route 66 bike trail
Copper Cart restaurant reopens
Route 66 enthusiast Don Gray reports that the Copper Cart restaurant in Seligman, Ariz., reopened this week. It was closed and for sale for some time. He said the historic Route 66 restaurant has been remodeled, as shown by one of Gray's photos here. Funny how things work on Route 66 ... after a week … Continue reading Copper Cart restaurant reopens
Ghost town
Here's an atmospheric film about the nearly deserted Route 66 town of Amboy, Calif. Fortunately, Roy's (which is featured in the footage) is on an upswing. That's thanks to Juan Pollo restaurant chain owner Albert Okura, who is slowly but surely bringing the business back to life. UPDATE: I just found out from California Route … Continue reading Ghost town
Fire damages old cafe near Lebanon
According to the Lebanon (Mo.) Daily Record, a Route 66-era cafe near the settlement of Hazelgreen, Mo., was heavily damaged by fire early Tuesday. The fire broke out at the Midway American Chinese Restaurant at Exit 140, off Interstate 44 east of Lebanon, about 4 a.m. and took firefighters about four hours to control. Based … Continue reading Fire damages old cafe near Lebanon
Heritage House restaurant torn down
The Heritage House restaurant on old Route 66 in Springfield, Ill., which closed in 2004, recently was demolished, reports the Springfield Journal-Register. The Heritage House operated for 38 years. For a long time, it was the only smorgasbord restaurant for miles around. Growing up in central Illinois, I remember one of its ads on a … Continue reading Heritage House restaurant torn down
Seligman Harvey House set to be torn down today
The Havasu, a Harvey House on an old alignment of Route 66 in Seligman, Ariz., isn't scheduled to be torn down until sometime today, but its obituary has already been written by the Prescott (Ariz.) Daily Courier. When word leaked out about five years ago that the BNSF planned to demolish the hotel, Seligman residents … Continue reading Seligman Harvey House set to be torn down today
Route 66 artist setting up shop near Mother Road
Route 66 artist, researcher and author Jerry McClanahan announced he is moving from north Texas to the Mother Road community of Chandler, Okla. McClanahan holds considerable stature with roadies. In addition to being an accomplished painter of scenes from the Mother Road, he wrote the indispensable "Route 66: EZ Guide for Travelers" guidebook that combines … Continue reading Route 66 artist setting up shop near Mother Road
“A City at the End of the World”
This is a 1993 broadcast from PBS station KNME-TV in Albuquerque, split into three parts of eight to 10 minutes each. The commentary is by V.B. Price, a University of New Mexico faculty member who is an environmental and architectural preservationist. Because of Albuquerque's massive growth in recent decades, Price was greatly concerned the city … Continue reading “A City at the End of the World”
From dirt into art
KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City did a story about Bradley's Pottery in Chandler, Oka., which is on Route 66. It turns out that Julie Bradley uses Oklahoma's red clay right in her back yard for her creations. "This red clay is equivalent to stoneware," she says. "So you can bake with it. You can microwave with … Continue reading From dirt into art