A collection of late singer Patti Page's memorabilia will be on display through the rest of the year at the Oklahoma History Center and will later travel to several other Oklahoma sites, including the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton. According to The Oklahoman newspaper, the "Patti Page: Once Upon a Dream" exhibit from the … Continue reading Patti Page collection will be at Oklahoma museums
Category: History
“Highway or My Way”
https://youtu.be/pE3kqBjRcnU Frank Kocevar, the former co-owner of Historic Seligman Sundries in Seligman, Arizona, put together this Route 66-themed video a few days ago. Frank now has time to travel the Mother Road and meet the people he heard about or those who came to his shop. So there may be quite a few people you … Continue reading “Highway or My Way”
A chat with Jerry McClanahan
KC Keefer adds to his "Genuine Route 66 Life" video series with a talk with Route 66 artist, author and researcher Jerry McClanahan at his studio in Chandler, Oklahoma. https://youtu.be/ISZLdWzTx2o McClanahan has been traveling regularly on Route 66 for more than 30 years, and his memories of the Mother Road date back even further. Novice … Continue reading A chat with Jerry McClanahan
Indian tribes will launch Route 66 tourism project
A Native American tourism group and the National Park Service will meet in New Mexico later this month to formally launch the "American Indians and Route 66" project, reported Indian Country Today. The initial meeting of the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association is set for Route 66 Casino west of Albuquerque. Tribal lands and … Continue reading Indian tribes will launch Route 66 tourism project
Website needs more data on New Deal projects
The good news is someone has put together an interactive map of New Deal sites that were built beginning in the 1930s and are still standing. The bad news is the listings on the map are incomplete. Carthage, Missouri, for instance, has a few such sites that aren't listed. However, you can offer listings to … Continue reading Website needs more data on New Deal projects
A chat with Rock Cafe’s Dawn Welch
KC Keefer, continuing with his Genuine Route 66 Life video series, talks to Dawn Welch, longtime owner of the historic Rock Cafe in Stroud, Oklahoma. Welch talks about the Route 66 restaurant's up-and-down history, including her role in the Disney-Pixar "Cars" movie and the restaurant nearly being destroyed by fire in 2008. https://youtu.be/rXZ5p1qfm8Q More can … Continue reading A chat with Rock Cafe’s Dawn Welch
Building in Springfield, Missouri, added to National Register
The McDaniel Building in downtown Springfield, Missouri, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places effective Oct. 22, according to an email Friday from the National Park Service. The six-story building, built in 1914, was around when Cyrus Avery and John Woodruff worked on details during meetings in Springfield about what became the fledgling … Continue reading Building in Springfield, Missouri, added to National Register
Woman documenting every building on Albuquerque’s Route 66
An Italian woman who is a graduate student at the University of New Mexico is photographically documenting every building and landmark on Route 66 in Albuquerque, according to a story on the university's news service. Donatella Davanzo, a University of New Mexico graduate student, walks along some part of Route 66 in Albuquerque almost every … Continue reading Woman documenting every building on Albuquerque’s Route 66
Book review: “Father of Route 66: The Story of Cy Avery”
Some may assume Cyrus Avery became known as "The Father of Route 66" simply because he was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time when the highway became designated and federally certified in 1926. But as Susan Croce Kelly's well-researched new biography shows, Avery's involvement in Route 66's birth and … Continue reading Book review: “Father of Route 66: The Story of Cy Avery”
Group seeks to restore old schoolhouse in Phelps
A nonprofit group is raising money to shore up and restore a long-abandoned, century-old Phelps School in the tiny Route 66 hamlet of Phelps, Missouri, reported the Joplin Globe. According to the article, Phelps School was finished in 1889 until it and other one-room schools in the region were consolidated into the Miller School District … Continue reading Group seeks to restore old schoolhouse in Phelps