This 28-minute video from "Illinois Stories," produced by PBS affiliate WSEC-TV in Springfield, takes you inside the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center in Litchfield, Ill. https://youtu.be/Ho5G74b75ws If you're a little short on time, you can skip ahead to the six-minute mark and let Ariston Cafe owner Nick Adam guide you and the host … Continue reading A tour of the Litchfield Route 66 museum
Category: History
A look back at Lucille Hamons
Bob Hall, who used to work at KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City, posted this report from 1988 about Lucille Hamons, owner of Lucille's service station on Route 66 in Hydro, Okla. This is interesting to watch, mostly because it was before Michael Wallis' best-selling "Route 66: The Mother Road" was published, kick-starting Route 66's renaissance. https://youtu.be/8Gr8KrSRYn4 … Continue reading A look back at Lucille Hamons
Broadway stage manager provides face-lift to Baxter Springs museum
An alum of Baxter Springs High School in southeastern Kansas is using his talents as a stage manager on Broadway to make long-needed improvements to the Baxter Springs Heritage Center and Museum. According to the Joplin Globe, Brian Rardin has been working on the project for more than a year from his New York City … Continue reading Broadway stage manager provides face-lift to Baxter Springs museum
Route 66 touring exhibit being developed
A company based in Washington state is developing a touring show, "America’s Road: The Journey of Route 66," that will launch in early 2014. It is seeking artifacts or objects it can borrow to help tell the Mother Road's story. Seth Leary of NRG! Exhibits is based in Kirkland, Wash., but grew up in the Route … Continue reading Route 66 touring exhibit being developed
Kellyville adds commemorative oil derrick
The Route 66 town of Kellyville, Okla., recently added a commemorative, 30-foot-tall oil derrick next to Route 66 that was donated nearly a decade ago, according to the Sapulpa Daily Herald. The Kelleyville Heritage Days Foundation plans to eventually place an LED sign on the derrick to tell travelers about upcoming events. A pump jack also was … Continue reading Kellyville adds commemorative oil derrick
Exploring Two Guns
A couple of chums on motorcycles explore the ruins of the Route 66 ghost town of Two Guns, Ariz., which once was the home to a gas station and a wild-animal zoo. https://youtu.be/0UhAXqfnmwE More about Two Guns may be read here.
“American Giants,” Episode 2
Joel Baker has posted the second episode of "American Giants," an exploration of Muffler Men found across the country. https://youtu.be/xALGXa6svO0 This episode deals with the history of the company that built the fiberglass figures, and the Lauterbach Tire Muffler Man on Route 66 in Springfield, Ill.
The story of Tulsa’s El Rancho Grande restaurant
Mark Brown at This Land Press wrote a long piece about the history and amazing consistency of Tulsa's first Mexican restaurant, El Rancho Grande, which still serves customers on 11th Street (aka Route 66) more than 60 years after it opened. The whole thing is worth reading, but here are a few nuggets from it: … Continue reading The story of Tulsa’s El Rancho Grande restaurant
Footage from the Bunion Derby
Here's rare footage of runners participating in C.C. Pyle's International Transcontinental Foot Race, aka the Bunion Derby, in 1928. Two-thirds of the Los Angeles-to-New York race took place on a fledgling Route 66. The footage is an excerpt from the Solomon Sir Jones Collection at Yale University. Jones was an African-American preacher who took his … Continue reading Footage from the Bunion Derby
Longtime Barney’s Beanery owner dies
Irwin Held, 87, who owned the Route 66 landmark restaurant Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood, Calif., for nearly 30 years, died of a kidney ailment Monday in his Los Angeles home, reported the Los Angeles Times. To hear Held's daughter Linda Shabot tell it, her father probably saved the restaurant from the wrecking ball when he … Continue reading Longtime Barney’s Beanery owner dies