Details released about Oklahoma Pop museum

A news conference on Tuesday revealed all of the details about a proposed Oklahoma Pop museum in Tulsa, devoted to the history of the state's music and its popular culture. You can read more about it here. It was mentioned a few days ago that Route 66 would be part of the museum. Bob Blackburn, … Continue reading Details released about Oklahoma Pop museum

Music museum will also feature Route 66

Well, this is interesting. From the Tulsa World: The Oklahoma Historical Society hopes to bring its first facility to Tulsa in the form of a $33 million museum of music and popular culture located in the Brady District. Plans for the museum, which will be half the size of the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma … Continue reading Music museum will also feature Route 66

Not just any festival

On Saturday, I decided to go to a festival right on Route 66 in downtown Bristow, Okla. At first glance, it looked like many small-town festivals in Oklahoma. I saw a store offering cowboy hats. I saw a Cowboys booth -- the Oklahoma State University Cowboys, that is. I saw a barbecue stand among the … Continue reading Not just any festival

Retired from the patrol

The Pontiac (Ill.) Daily Leader has a story about Chester Henry of LeRoy, Ill., who was a Illinois state trooper in District 6 of the Pontiac area from 1957 to 1984. Henry attended this past weekend's Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor event. Henry was inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame in … Continue reading Retired from the patrol

Book review: “The Route 66 St. Louis Cookbook”

First-time author Norma Maret Bolin's "The Route 66 St. Louis Cookbook" has the words "St. Louis" in slightly larger type than the rest of the title of the book's cover. This is telling. Her book (paperback, 174 pages, $19.95) is considerably more focused on famed restaurants of the entire St. Louis area than just those … Continue reading Book review: “The Route 66 St. Louis Cookbook”

Marker at Sidewalk Highway proposed

Laurel Kane of Afton Station and other roadies are trying to raise money to buy and erect a monument at the south end of the fabled Sidewalk Highway of Route 66 north of Afton, Okla. Kane provides the details on her Thoughts from a Route 66 Business Owner blog: The $3920 cost of the installation … Continue reading Marker at Sidewalk Highway proposed

Quite a find

Longtime roadie Kip Welborn was near the Route 66 town of Devil's Elbow, Mo., when he found something interesting. I'll let him tell the story: When we got to Devils Elbow, a bizarre find ... we stopped at the scenic overlook. ... I climbed down the hill in search of old beer cans ... did not … Continue reading Quite a find

Mystery of the Missing Monument

Delbert Trew, who owns a ranch on old Route 66 near Alanreed, Texas, and has been a longtime Route 66 supporter, writes in the Amarillo Globe-News about a long-missing Texas highway monument that once greeted Route 66 westbound travelers at the border town of Texola, Okla., during the mid-1930s. It was an art-deco, granite monument … Continue reading Mystery of the Missing Monument

Why’d they name it that?

The Daily Oklahoman has a list of bridges, roads, buildings and other things that were named after prominent Sooners. Here's the ones that are relevant to Route 66: Interstate-40 Business — "Roger Miller Memorial Highway” — 1994: Between State Highway 30 in Erick and I-40 (Exit 11). Miller was a singer and songwriter. [Editor's note: … Continue reading Why’d they name it that?

Illinois reopens 11 historic sites

The state of Illinois has reopened 11 historic sites, including the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, that were closed in December as a cost-cutting move by now-deposed governor Rod Blagojevich, reported the Chicago Tribune. Gov. Pat Quinn ordered the reopening of the sites on April 15. He said Blagojevich's move was a "huge blunder" that cost … Continue reading Illinois reopens 11 historic sites