Maggie Downs of the The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., writes about the continuing attempts to revive Roy's and the lonely Mojave Desert town of Amboy, Calif. Most of the stuff Downs reports has already been noted here, including that Roy's soon will be pumping gas again. But it's a good read. The article … Continue reading “A blip of a town”
Category: Businesses
Improvements planned at Grand Canyon Caverns
Grand Canyon Caverns, a longtime underground attraction on Route 66 west of Seligman, Ariz., will undergo $2 million worth of upgrades, according to the Kingman Daily Miner. Among the improvements are landscaping, new concrete, a Frisbee golf course, an RV park, Boy Scout tent areas, and an observatory. Co-owner Kim Kadletz also says he wants … Continue reading Improvements planned at Grand Canyon Caverns
Late freeze hits Missouri vineyards hard
Because of this week's hard freeze, a lot of farmers in the Midwest are hurting. That includes vineyards along Route 66 in Missouri. Here's this excerpt by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Jim Anderson, director of the Missouri Wine and Grape Board, said the state's wine crop was 90 percent or more destroyed. Last year, the … Continue reading Late freeze hits Missouri vineyards hard
Arcadia’s mini-boom
This story by the Edmond (Okla.) Sun details all the recent business happenings going on in Arcadia, Okla., which is impressive because the Route 66 town doesn't even have 300 people -- yet. The Windmill Shops, a tastefully designed strip mall that includes a tag agency, insurance office, travel agency and tax-planning business. A hair … Continue reading Arcadia’s mini-boom
Roy’s should be back in business soon
Trevor Summons of the San Bernardino County Sun drove Route 66 deep into California's Mojave Desert to see whether he could find the hamlet of Bagdad. He didn't find much. "Blink, and you'll miss it" is the common description of what now is a ghost town. However, he motored on to the nearby Route 66 … Continue reading Roy’s should be back in business soon
Antiques kicks on 66
Gail Pennington of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tells of her best picks of antique stores and restaurants from St. Louis to Springfield, Ill., along the Mother Road.
God bless the little man
Alan Jackson is a Georgia boy, so I have doubts whether he's driven Route 66. However, his hit song "Little Man" tells what happened to small-town America and small businesses on the Mother Road and elsewhere in the wake of interstate bypasses and big-box corporations.
Red Oak II reopens this summer
Partly buried in this Carthage (Mo.) Press article about a Japanese television crew filming Route 66 sights is intriguing news about the languishing Red Oak II complex northeast of town. The visit to Red Oak II comes at an exciting time as renovation work nears completion on the Black Hen Restaurant, which will reopen this … Continue reading Red Oak II reopens this summer
Pops of Arcadia documentary
Here's a short documentary about the building of the Pops convenience store on Route 66 in Arcadia, Okla., complete with a 66-foot-tall pop bottle. Interviewed are Route 66 historian Jim Ross, who lives near Arcadia, and Pops architect Rand Elliott of Oklahoma City. On a related note, I recently e-mailed Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, … Continue reading Pops of Arcadia documentary
Java stop
Travis Good had some interesting news from the Route 66 town of Dwight, Ill., that he posted to the Route 66 yahoogroup: Ron was showing me a new business in Dwight across the street from the Becker gas station. It looks like a big billboard with a mural on it. It turns out that it … Continue reading Java stop