A couple from Montana is reviving an old business in Ash Fork, Arizona, as the Zettlers Route 66 store. Zettlers Route 66 will open Friday after owners Kirk and Yvette Slack finished about 15 months of cleaning and renovations to the building, reported the Grand Canyon News. The store features a working 1960s Coke machine, Native … Continue reading Zettlers Route 66 store opening soon in Ash Fork
Category: History
A chat with the owner of Lulu’s Beef
KC Keefer interviewed Don Greico Jr., the proprietor of Lulu's Beef, which has occupied the corner of Leavitt Street, Taylor Street and Odgen Avenue (aka Route 66) in Chicago for nearly 50 years. Keefer describes the restaurant as exuding "Chicago charm," and Greico reflects that as well. And if you're craving a Chicago-style hot dog, Lulu's … Continue reading A chat with the owner of Lulu’s Beef
Will Rogers Memorial Museum merged into Oklahoma Historical Society
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin this week signed her first bill of the 2016 state legislative session, which was to transfer the Will Rogers Memorial Commission into the Oklahoma Historical Society. It was a move that was sought for years and supported by both organizations. Tad Jones, director of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma, explained a few … Continue reading Will Rogers Memorial Museum merged into Oklahoma Historical Society
Man returns coins he stole from Clifton’s Cafeteria 70 years later
A poor shoeshine boy who took coins from a wishing well at Clifton's Cafeteria in downtown Los Angeles returned to the restaurant many decades later to repay it "with interest." The LAist got the scoop on this remarkable story about Willie Gordon, who later became a successful attorney and detective novelist and married another author, … Continue reading Man returns coins he stole from Clifton’s Cafeteria 70 years later
Review: “Route 66: In Search of Ghosts and Treasures”
A new Route 66 book designed mostly for children finds a way to explain what still exists on the Mother Road and what is gone. Adults also might find pleasure with the text by Phyllis Chandler Grey and illustrations by Texas Tim Webb in "Route 66: In Search of Ghosts and Treasures" (hardback, 66 pages, … Continue reading Review: “Route 66: In Search of Ghosts and Treasures”
The curse of Grants uranium mines
The nonprofit magazine In These Times recently published an in-depth article about uranium miners in the Route 66 town of Grants, New Mexico. The mines operated in Grants and Church Rock, New Mexico, from the 1950s to the 1980s. Many miners contracted cancer and other diseases from radiation exposure. The federal government under the Radiation … Continue reading The curse of Grants uranium mines
The tunnels beneath Flagstaff
Northern Arizona University student Nikki Charnstrom last fall began to hear about tunnels that snaked under downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, including Route 66. But finding information about the Flagstaff tunnels proved more difficult. In an interview in Flagstaff Business News: “Everyone I asked said no, they didn’t know about the tunnels, so it sparked my interest in forgotten … Continue reading The tunnels beneath Flagstaff
More 1990s videos on Route 66
Anthony Reichardt has posted more than a dozen videos he shot during Route 66 trips in a 1959 Cadillac from 1992 to 1995. The latest batch includes an interview with Aleene Kay Albro, who co-owned Buffalo Ranch in Afton, Oklahoma, from 1953 to 1997. She died less than two years after this video, and Buffalo Ranch … Continue reading More 1990s videos on Route 66
La Bajada Hill may become a national monument
In the wake of Barack Obama last week designating a big chunk of Route 66 in the Mojave Desert as the Mojave Trails National Monument, pressure is building on the president to designate La Bajada Hill in New Mexico as a national monument, as well. The Christian Science Monitor, in a story Saturday about Obama's executive actions, … Continue reading La Bajada Hill may become a national monument
The ghosts of Tom Joad
Below the new and idyllic Route 66 Roadside Park in Springfield, Missouri, a campground for the homeless has sprung up in recent months. KYTV in Springfield talked to Heather Cooper, one of the homeless there: "I have post traumatic stress disorder with traumatic nightmares. I've got stage one bipolar, stage one manic depressive illness, which is … Continue reading The ghosts of Tom Joad