ROUTE - August / September 2022

ROUTE THE MAGAZINE THAT CELEBRATES ROAD TRAVEL, VINTAGE AMERICANA AND ROUTE 66

August/September 2022

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THE AMERICANA ISSUE

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We’ll Show You Around Springfield!

Whether it’s classic cars, old-fashioned burgers or a museum that brings history to life, you can relive the glory days of Route 66 in its birthplace.

We love our city and know the best places to eat, drink and play.

Experience a classic car parade down Route 66, concerts, booths, great food and other fun during the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival, August 11–13, 2022.

See you in Springfield, Missouri!

Point your smartphone camera at this QR code to find out more about things to do in Springfield. ii ROUTE Magazine

© 2022 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Office of Tourism, TTY: 1 -800-785-6055

The highway that inspired a nation to get its kicks begins in Illinois. Take a trip down nostalgia lane through Route 66 in Illinois and surround yourself with retro diners, quirky roadside museums, larger-than-life characters, and more.

ROUTE Magazine 1

Here, legends live on. After 70+ years, a Route 66 burger joint shows no signs of slowing down. A hotel’s interior design revives Oklahoma history. Innovative brewers color outside the lines in every pour. A historic studio remains hallowed ground for the “Tulsa Sound.”

And out front, multi-genre icon Leon Russell stands tall, dressed to the nines in bronze.

S EE

The Church Studio Tulsa

Imagine that.

Ready to sightsee?

Get inspired at TravelOK.com.

Hank’s Hamburgers Tulsa

2 ROUTE Magazine

IN DR K

STAY

EAT

The Campbell Hotel Tulsa

Welltown Brewing Tulsa

Order or download your free Route 66 Guide & Passport at TravelOK.com.

ROUTE Magazine 3

Chicago

Willowbrook

Romeoville

Joliet

Joliet

Wilmington

Braidwood

Dwight

Pontiac

Pontiac

www.TheFirstHundredMiles.com

Culture you can step into.

Storyteller Museum Monday - Friday Gallup Cultural Center

Summer Indigenous Arts: Dances Monday, Wednesday, Friday May - August Gallup Cultural Center

Summer Indigenous Arts: Demonstrations Fridays, May - August Gallup Cultural Center

VisitGallup.com

Discover the road that inspped dreamers and adventurers

Roll down your windows and take an all-American adventure on historic Route 66.

Get a breath-taking view of the Mississippi from atop the sky-high Gateway Arch.

Dip into an ice-cold, refreshing “concrete” at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. Or just take in the open road. It’s everything you love about the Midwest, all in one place.

Discover more reasons to visit at explorestlouis.com.

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Did you know?

66 Things

CARLSB A D NEW MEXICO

C H A M B E R

O F

C O M M E R C E

To Do at Lake Carlsbad

HER E A R E OUR T OP T EN:

Boating Carlsbad Water Park Fishing Friendship Park Historical Flume Kayaking Lake Carlsbad Golf Course - 18 Hole & Executive 9 Hole

PJ & B Restaurant Riverwalk Veteran’s Memorial Park For the rest of the list, (and so much more) visit carlsbadchamber.com From 750 feet underground at the Carlsbad Caverns to floating down the gorgeous Pecos River, Carlsbad has everything you need for your New Mexico Adventure.

Car lsba d Cha mbe r of Comme rc e 302 S Ca na l Ca r lsba d, NM 8 8 2 2 0 5 7 5 -8 8 7 -6 5 1 6 to ur ism@ c a r lsba dc ha mbe r.c om Paid for in part by Carlsbad Lodgers’ Tax

ROUTE Magazine 9

CONTENTS

Barn billboard, for Jesse James Hideout in Missouri, Clyde, Ohio. 1980. Photograph by John Margolies.

22 An American Classic

By Nick Gerlich Although the first half of the 20th Century spawned an array of novelty architecture, Frank Redford’s Wigwam Villages stood out, inspiring a generation of road travelers and a cinematic interpretation of the conical lodges. Meet the family into its second generation of preserving one of three remaining locations of the Wigwam chain, with an antidote for modern travelers’ thirst for nostalgia.

28 America’s Most Loved

By Heide Brandes No American celebrity has been so well-loved as Will Rogers, a clever, energetic, but restless and hard-to-control boy who grew up to be a trick roper (he had practiced on his classmates), vaudeville performer, comic, radio and movie star, and America’s “Cowboy Philosopher.” Learn the story behind the legacy of Oklahoma's Favorite Son.

42 A Conversation with Gordon Lightfoot

By Brennen Matthews Out of a long outpouring of musical stars from Canada, get to know one of its most successful singer-songwriters — Gordon Lightfoot, whose musical story-telling and longevity are both legendary. In this candid and revealing conversation, Lightfoot spins the ultimate story — that of his life’s loves, adventures, and travels, and how those experiences were woven into the fabric of his much-loved songs.

48 Reinvented

By Holly Riddle From a tired old cottage court with so many past owners no one can remember them all, to one of the hottest lodgings on the Route, the Rockwood Motor Court has been freshly imbued with quaint nostalgic décor. Springfield, Missouri’s Phyllis Ferguson is 10 ROUTE Magazine

the host, decorator, and savior of the charming complex, with as round-about a tale of how she got there as the lodging itself.

58 America’s 1st Drive-Thru

By Cheryl Eichar Jett Beloved by the neighborhood’s high school students and Illinois state employees alike, the capital city’s Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop — in an old caboose — has also served its share of travelers in its nearly 100 years. Meet one of Springfield’s “Living Legends,” who has so far spent 27 years serving up the famed “loose meat” sandwich known as a Maid-Rite — and a smile — to each customer.

66 America’s Playground

By Dr. T. Lindsay Baker Known for generations by its bright yellow teepee-shaped logo and its signature letter “K” substituted for “C” in Kampground, Kamping Kabin, and, well, you get the idea, Kampgrounds of America (KOA) has welcomed campers and RVers since the 1960s. But how KOA got its start, and the company’s ensuing twists and turns, is a tale many campers might not know.

ON THE COVER Bedrock City in Valle, Arizona.

Photograph by Sandra Jungling.

es s n e s r u o y e E n gag l I , d l e i f g n i r In Sp

g s with livin d n a h e k a h See and s ng the route; hear the roar s; legends alo cal favorite lo e th te s ta of engines; ts! the burnou ll e m s d n a

the road is alive!

Experience Springfield Now! VisitSpringfieldIllinois.com |

#visitspringfield ROUTE Magazine 11

EDITORIAL Much has changed on the road since I was last personally on its historic asphalt.

We have witnessed a great many additions, and sadly, a great many losses over the past two years, but one thing has remained the same: Route 66, and America’s twolane highways in general, are a wondrous testament to the young nation’s vibrant, colorful past and to the determination and creativity of its people. America is nothing if not imaginative.

In this issue — ­ one of my favorites annually — we take a deeper look into classic Americana, on and off of Route 66. Every year, the team and I put our heads together to consider a wide variety of great stops along the country’s blue highways, people and places that have a unique, unexpected story to share. It is seldom difficult to identify enough material to fill the issue; rather, the challenge comes in limiting ourselves to featuring only the very best. America is just bursting with odd and fascinating roadside destinations that were the brainchild of eclectic, inspired folk.

The nation is awash in enthralling history. And if there is one thing that pulls me off the highway more than any other, it is an enormous this or that, a quirky roadside attraction, or a tacky, impossibly run down, DIY mid-century creation, and America has no small supply.

So, it is with great enthusiasm that we present this year’s annual Americana issue.

In this August/September edition, we spend some time in Rialto, California, at one of the coolest motels in the nation: Wigwam #7. The Wigwam Village chain was once one of the most popular in the USA, with travelers journeying from afar to spend the night in a “wigwam.” Today, there are only three remaining, but a night in one of Frank A. Redford’s creations is still a magical memory to make.

Reputed to be the nation’s first drive-thru restaurant, Maid-Rite in downtown Springfield, Illinois, is still pumping out tasty food and easy, friendly service. But their story will make you appreciate this iconic eatery even more, and put a trip to Springfield, Illinois, on your to-do list.

Once the most famous man in America, Will Rogers is still beloved by a generation. Most of us know his name — even a section of Route 66 in Oklahoma is nicknamed the Will Rogers Highway — but the actor, comedian, and writer’s voyage into our homes and hearts is a complicated one that was not as straightforward as you may think.

I have always loved working with actors and musicians. I find the human journey intriguing, and working with talented, artistic personalities is always enjoyable.

And of course, being the Americana issue, we have decided to bring you an insightful, fun conversation with one of music’s most influential musicians: the iconic Gordon Lightfoot. His songs are still loved by the masses and his impact on other legendary artists like Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul, and Mary are undeniable. You may want to give his tunes a listen while diving into the conversation.

These and so much more: Arizona’s desert stop of Cool Springs; the historic and effective marketing strategy of barn advertising; perhaps the most popular camping experience ever created — Kampgrounds of America (KOA); the reinvigorating of one of Springfield, Missouri’s prettiest motels — Rockwood Court; the story behind the colorful once-Phillips 66 station, now-popular eatery in Cuba, Missouri — Weir on 66, and many other stories, fill this enjoyable issue.

Remember to spread the love and tell everyone in your network about ROUTE Magazine. We always relish the journey more when we are together. And take a moment to like and follow us on social media.

If you’ve not yet pre-ordered a copy of my new book, Miles to Go, please consider doing so. It is a story that I would love for you to know.

Blessings, Brennen Matthews Editor

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ROUTE PUBLISHER Thin Tread Media EDITOR Brennen Matthews DEPUTY EDITOR Kate Wambui ASSOCIATE EDITOR Cheryl Eichar Jett EDITOR-AT-LARGE Nick Gerlich LEAD EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHER David J. Schwartz LAYOUT AND DESIGN Tom Heffron EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Kaylee Sugimoto Madeleine Hearn DIGITAL Matheus Alves ILLUSTRATOR Jennifer Mallon CONTRIBUTORS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS 1933 Group Bruce Hornsby Chandler O’Leary Efren Lopez Eric Axene Heide Brandes Holly Riddle John Margolies Lorne Bridgman Sandra Jungling Skvader Dr. T. Lindsay Baker Troy Paiva Will Rogers Museum Zachary Stanley Editorial submissions should be sent to brennen@routemagazine.us To subscribe visit www.routemagazine.us.

Advertising inquiries should be sent to advertising@routemagazine.us or call 905 399 9912.

ROUTE is published six times per year by Thin Tread Media. No part of this publication may be copied or reprinted without the written consent of the Publisher. The views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of the Publisher, Editor, or service contractors. Every effort has been made to maintain the accuracy of the information presented in this publication. No responsibility is assumed for errors, changes or omissions. The Publisher does not take any responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photography.

ROUTE Magazine 13

A SOUTHER N GENTLEMAN

E

k

nthusiasts of Western history will recognize the name Doc Holliday as the “Deadly Doctor of the American West” — a Southern-born gambler, gunfighter, and dentist that shot his way up the ranks of vagabondage to become one of the most notorious and intriguing personalities of the Wild West. Doc’s turbulent life led him to become a caricature of infamy in American pop culture; however, decades of interest surrounding Doc somehow allowed parts of his biography to become lost in translation. In conversation with author and expert on Holliday, Victoria Wilson, learn more here about the man behind the myth.

Born in 1851, John Henry Holliday spent his early life in the small town of Griffin, Georgia. Doc was raised with the genteel manners of the Southern aristocracy — he was recognized by many as a “Southern gentleman,” with an air of charisma that aided his gambling efforts, as well as his ability to evade law enforcement.

When he was 21, he opened his own dentistry practice, which eventually earned him the nickname “Doc.” However, he was soon diagnosed with tuberculosis, no doubt contracted from his mother, who he cared for before her death when Doc was just 15. Likely hoping for relief from his symptoms in the climate of the American Southwest, he abandoned his medical aspirations, packed his bags, and left Georgia.

Doc’s migration led him to Dallas, Texas, where he took up residence as a gambler and began to practice with a knife and a six-shooter. In 1875, Doc’s first gunfight took place, in which he fired shots following a disagreement with a local saloonkeeper. Surprisingly, Doc faced minor legal repercussions; this was short-lived, however, when just days later he engaged in another shootout that killed a prominent Dallas citizen. At this point, locals rallied against Doc, and he took off farther west. “Holliday’s exodus west is important because it tells us something about who he was,” said Wilson, author of the award-winning trilogy The Saga of Doc Holliday. “Not just a victim of fate, but a proud and perhaps arrogant man who had a quick temper and a fast draw that sometimes got him into trouble.”

In 1879, Doc’s newest stint brought him to Dodge City, Kansas, where he met and befriended fellow gunslinger and local lawman, Wyatt Earp. Given Earp’s status as a

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city marshal, it was unusual to form a strong bond with a man notorious for starting gunfights across the West. Their friendship reportedly began when Holliday jumped to Earp’s defense against a cowboy mob. “For Doc, Wyatt was like the big brother he’d never had, and the large Earp family was like being home with his own family again,” said Wilson.

Doc’s friendship with Earp carried him to Tombstone, Arizona, and it was here that the two were major players in the most famous gunfight in American history.

The gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone occurred on October 26, 1881, and was the result of a long-simmering dispute between the two friends plus Earp’s lawmen brothers, and the Clanton brothers’ gang of rustlers — the Cochise County Cowboys — over the Clantons’ widespread illegal activities. After the Clantons spread rumors that Doc had robbed a stagecoach in the area, tensions escalated, resulting in a 30-second shootout that left three men dead and several others wounded. After Morgan Earp was shot and killed six months later by the Clanton gang, Doc and Wyatt and Virgil Earp set out on a vendetta to avenge brother Morgan.

The tragedy at Tombstone did not bring a stop to Doc’s troubles, however. After parting ways with Earp in New Mexico, he traveled to Colorado, where he was arrested multiple times for murder and assault. Claiming self-defense, Doc was again able to avoid serving time. “In every instance where he was charged with a shooting, the matter was always found to be self-defense,” said Wilson. After his stay in Leadville, Doc’s tuberculosis worsened, and he spent his remaining days in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

He died on November 8, 1887, at the age of 36.

Even with his short temper and compulsion to pull a gun at the first sign of conflict, Doc’s legacy as one of the great gunfighters of the American West has only grown in the century following his death. “If your Western movie or book has a good Doc character, it’ll be a hit. Without him, it’s just another shoot-out in a dusty Western mining camp,” said Wilson.

The Old West has always been a fascinating period for both Americans and visitors alike. This is largely due to the larger-than-life personalities of complicated men and women like John Henry Holliday, characters who were a key part of the post-Civil War era in U.S. history.

America’s premier institution of Western history, art and culture Open Daily 1700 NE 63rd St. 15 minutes north of Downtown OKC

nationalcowboymuseum.org ROUTE Magazine 15

A MA N-MA DE

I

n the harsh desert of Niland, California, about two and a half hours east of San Diego, lie the bare bones of an old U.S. Marine Corps training camp. For years it was used to train anti-aircraft artillery units and was easily accessible to aircrafts coming from carriers in San Diego during World War II. Eventually there was no need for the old camp, and it was stripped down to the basic foundation.

These giant slabs of concrete have since become a home for those who feel they don’t fit in anywhere else — an off-thegrid, often transient community called Slab City.

It was here that a man named Leonard Knight found his purpose building an artificial mountain that he called Salvation Mountain. Born in Vermont in 1931, Knight grew up as a self-proclaimed spoiled child and dropped out of school in tenth grade. At age 20, he was drafted into the Army at the tail end of the Korean War, but had to return home soon after arriving in Korea. It was after this experience that Knight, while listening to his sister, Irene, speak about Jesus, had a moment of intense religious clarity.

Inspired by a Budweiser hot air balloon he saw over Burlington one day, Knight took it upon himself to build his own balloon. For fourteen years, he struggled with a hand-made balloon emblazoned with the phrase “God is Love,” but after finally admitting defeat on Bombay Beach in San Diego, he found his new calling in Slab City.

“All he wanted was to share the message of God’s love,” said Bob Levesque, Knight’s son-in-law and president of Salvation Mountain Inc. “When he found the Slabs, he saw that that was where God was calling him to be, so he started building this mountain. He realized that it wouldn’t be very relevant if nobody could see it, so he made it a mountain.”

The original mountain was constructed mostly of sand.

Knight nearly gave up when his original mountain collapsed in the late 1980s, but he took it as a positive message from God and began again, this time using straw and adobe clay.

For the next three decades, Knight built up his mountain, plastering it with paint, verses from the Sinner’s Prayer, and topping it off with the words he had hoped to put on his balloon: “God is Love.” His goal was always to provide an

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opportunity for people to experience God’s love, free from judgment.

“People travel from all over the world to visit and look for a spiritual experience. There are different expectations, but when they see the mountain, it’s like all of those are torn down,” said Levesque. “He just wanted to share the message and let the Mountain speak for itself.”

After many years and setbacks, including the City of Niland attempting to stop Knight from continuing his purpose, he was eventually forced to step away from his building due to health complications. Knight passed away in 2014 at age 82, but the Mountain still thrives in memory of him.

“He became a kind of spokesperson for the people who lived out in the Slabs,” Levesque said. “The city kept trying to prove that the paint used was causing harm to the environment, which it wasn’t, in order to try and get it taken down, but those people he looked out for made sure that the city couldn’t do anything to him without a national incident. Even after his death, we keep working on expanding it, as a way to continue his legacy and honor his memory.”

Every year around November 1st—Knight’s birthday—Salvation Mountain Inc., the charity that runs the upkeep of the mountain, throws an annual Celebration of Life for Knight. Family, friends, and visitors alike flock to the destination to participate in some of Knight’s favorite activities, including working on the mountain. These continued efforts provide the opportunity for people to come visit and experience the place for themselves.

While Salvation Mountain may be a religious stop, with a Christian center and Bible verses plastered over the sides, it’s much more than that for so many people. His original hot air balloon that started this endeavor finally found a home at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

California Senator, Barbara Boxer, said in an address to Congress in 2002 that it was “a national treasure” and should be worthy of preservation, not because of the clear message it conveys, but because of the time, effort, and love that was poured into it. Salvation Mountain is an unusual place that will continue to attract the curious for a long time to come.

Image by Zachary Stanley.

M I R AC L E

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W

hen residents of Lincoln, Illinois, heard that the Tropics Restaurant sign was being taken down, they never expected the iconic vivid palm tree design to ever return. Over the years, so much has been lost on Route 66. But luck was on their side and now, eight years later, the sign is shining once again, but this time on the teamwork, community, and dedication put into preserving its originality and untold story.

For thirty years, the Tropics Restaurant remained a popular dining spot along Route 66. After serving in Hawaii during World War II, veteran Vince Schwenoha had opened the eatery with his wife, Helen Frances Schwenoha. The pair only had one goal in mind — to bring a snapshot of Hawaii’s tropical, exotic environment to the Midwest.

After the restaurant’s initial opening in 1950, co-workers Beverly Worth and Lewis Johnson fell in love and later married.

Four years later, the Schwenohas handed the management of the restaurant to the newlyweds after deciding to move to southern California. The Tropics Restaurant would remain a Johnson-run family business, becoming well-known for treating their regulars and workers like family. Business persevered until Beverly’s loss to cancer and Lewis’ retirement in 1997. That same year, the Tropics closed its doors for good.

After the restaurant shut down, the sign and the building remained standing, as if to keep the nostalgia and the memories close to the community’s heart. But once the property was sold and changes started taking place on the site in 2014, the Johnson family had no choice but to take their sign down.

In an effort to preserve the restaurant that they’d known and loved for so long, Lewis and his daughter, Tammy Goodrich, formed a partnership with the City of Lincoln and with Logan County Tourism and reached out to Route 66 preservation groups to try to preserve the sign. The once-beautiful sign was determined during the removal stage to be in terrible condition.

Donated to the Logan County Alliance, the sign was to be put into storage, while a new McDonald’s Restaurant was under construction on the former site of the Tropics.

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In 2016, the Tropics sign was inducted into the Route 66 Hall of Fame, hauled to the annual Illinois Route 66 Association banquet in Lincoln on a flat-bed trailer to surprise the event’s attendees. After spending some time in a cityowned field, the iconic sign was rescued the following year to spend some months under the dependable hands of the Springfield-based Ace Sign Company’s team.

“It took a tremendous amount of energy from Route 66 groups of Lincoln, the local county tourism bureau, state involvement, federal involvement, and a lot of private support,” said Todd Bringuet, CEO of Ace Sign Company.

“It was a good case of having everyone come together to make something work out successfully. We all gave the sign a lot of love and about six hundred linear feet of new neon.”

Despite steel turning into rust, multiple condition issues, and even finding a few bird nests in hidden crevices, by June 24th, 2018, the Tropics Restaurant sign was able to be restored back to its prime state with the help of a grant from the National Park Service. It now stands tall in its original home, Lincoln, Illinois, at the McDonald’s parking lot near Hickox Drive along Route 66.

Although Tropics co-founder Helen passed away in 2018 before the sign was relit, the community lovingly held onto her memory. Hundreds of Lincoln residents gathered in the new McDonald’s parking lot to watch the relighting of the Tropics Restaurant sign, in honor of its new purpose and display.

“The sign is just a piece, a historical snapshot of the history of their brand,” said Bringuet. “There are a lot of signs [for companies] that are no longer in business but are a great reminder of their past and what they did for the community.”

Route 66 in Illinois is filled with all varieties of roadside attractions, each with their own interesting and unique story to pull travelers off the road. Although the sign is calling travelers to take a break and grab a coffee from a different restaurant, it continues to be an important reminder of an eatery that once meant so much, to so many people.

Image by David J. Schwartz – Pics On Route 66.

More Than a Sign

ROUTE Magazine 19

T

he 1930s represent an eventful period for enthusiasts of the Mother Road, encapsulating both the early years of Route 66 and the birth of many popular roadside attractions. This era also marked the rise and fall of gangster-duo Bonnie and Clyde, whose various criminal escapades across the Midwest often fell alongside the Mother Road. The significance of these two pillars of American history and pop culture interestingly intersect in the city of Joplin, Missouri, in the form of a small garage apartment; a hideout if you will. Despite its innocuous appearance, the infamous Bonnie and Clyde refuge has a tumultuous history that continues to draw curious travelers and followers of American true crime into the suburban streets of Joplin.

Located at 34th Street and Oak Ridge Drive, the building that became known as the Bonnie and Clyde Hideout was built in 1927, just one year after the establishment of Route 66. Constructed from stone in Craftsman style, the apartment carries a modest appearance with little indication of its historical significance — unless of course you spot the bullet hole above the door. The apartment’s association with the infamous Barrow Gang dates back to April 1933, when they inhabited it for 13 days. During their stay, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, along with Clyde’s brother Buck, Buck’s wife Blanche, and their sidekick and driver W.D. Jones, hid out in the apartment over the garage while they stole more weapons and another car. Their late-night activities and a stray shot from the gun Clyde was cleaning raised suspicions from neighbors, who tipped off the police.

Assuming the presence of bootleggers, officers arrived at the address on April 13, 1933. To their surprise, they were confronted by the Barrow Gang in a shocking shootout that left a county constable and a police detective dead. Bonnie, Clyde, and the other gang members hightailed it out of the garage, abandoning possessions that are now regarded as historical artifacts — most notably, a camera containing nowinfamous photographs of Bonnie jokingly holding Clyde at gunpoint. Joplin’s local newspaper printed these photos in the days following the shootout, but the hideout itself did

20 ROUTE Magazine

not garner national attention at the time. “It was in the paper mostly because of the fact that two of our constables were killed,” said Patrick Tuttle, director of Joplin’s Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It was only covered for two days and then dropped off. So, it wasn’t really well-known until [after] Bonnie and Clyde were killed.”

Tuttle holds a personal connection to the Hideout, which was owned by his father for 38 years in the decades following the shootout. During this period, the original 1930s decor of the apartment was removed. “My dad avoided it being put on a historical register during that time because he didn’t want it to be dictated. He had to take care of his house,” said Tuttle.

It was, however, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

In 2008, the hideout underwent a restoration when the property was sold to a pastor named Phillip McClendon.

McClendon planned to convert the property into a bedand-breakfast, in hopes of maintaining public interest in the historic spot; he redecorated the interior of the apartment with restored 1930s furniture, hoping to evoke images of how it may have appeared during Bonnie and Clyde’s stay. But when a destructive tornado struck Joplin in 2011, the city was left with a serious shortage of housing. Plans to turn the apartment into a bed-and-breakfast were then paused, and McClendon began renting the apartment out on a longterm basis to tornado refugees. Ever since, the property has functioned as a private residence.

This small, suburban refuge carries melancholic and intriguing historical significance for both locals and strangers, as thousands of Route 66 tourists make a pitstop in Joplin each year to glimpse the small apartment that once housed two of America’s most notorious criminals. “We try not to glorify the shootout itself,” said Tuttle, “But it’s a piece of Americana, the antiquity of the property, and people from all over the world have it on their list of places to see. It’s a part of our notoriety and an important piece of history.” Along with other attractions, the Bonnie and Clyde Hideout exemplifies the role that true crime has played in American history and highlights the desire to see such locations as part of the Route 66 experience.

Image by David J. Schwartz – Pics On Route 66.

Joplin’s Legacy with BON N I E A N D C LY DE

DISCOVER CLINTON, OKLAHOMA

WHERE ROUTE 66 TRULY COMES ALIVE!

• HIS TORI C HOTE L S• D IV E RS E D INING• •M OHAW K LOD G E IND IAN S TORE• •THE WATE R ZOO•

www.clintonokla.org ROUTE Magazine 21

AN AMERIC

22 ROUTE Magazine

CAN CLASSIC

By Nick Gerlich Photographs by Eric Axene

ROUTE Magazine 23

T

he first half of the 20th Century was one of great architectural experimentation. Numerous styles found their place along American streets, from garish brutalism to sleek Art Deco and Streamline Moderne, from mid-century modern to Googie. But the one that often stands out the most is novelty architecture, sometimes also called mimetic or programmatic.

One of the more memorable examples of this building style was a small chain of motels interestingly known as wigwam villages, each with a small number of detached conical structures that contained all of the basic amenities of a motel room: a bed and a bathroom. It was spartan and spare, but it got the job done, primarily because travelers were more enthused with the sheer novelty of the proposition. It was a chance to experience a night in a concrete wigwam. How classic America is that!

One of the three surviving properties from this chain is frequently the first or last place that Route 66 travelers stay on their journey, curbside on the Mother Road in Rialto, California. Its popularity has been reinforced in large part because of the Cars movie, in which the “Cozy Cones” served as cinematic interpretation of the wigwam chain.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this village’s story, though, is that the property was restored and preserved by Indian immigrants who had never experienced any of this history in the first place, and for whom the American thirst for nostalgia was truly a foreign concept.

To a Point It all started in 1935 when Frank Redford realized that the rapidly growing number of cars in the U.S., which had taken to the highways in spite of the Great Depression, meant that there was business opportunity. Travelers always need gas, food, and lodging, and he aimed to address the latter.

But Redford also had a personal interest in indigenous culture and was an avid collector of artifacts. To house his growing collection, Redford had built a conical structure along U.S. Highway 31E in 1933 in Horse Cave, Kentucky.

He added six smaller cones two years later to serve as tourist cabins. “He collected Native American artifacts which he displayed in his own museum. It was this collection that inspired Redford to build the first Wigwam Village around his museum,” said Richard Ratay, author of Don’t Make Me Pull Over! An Informal History Of The Family Road Trip.

This came at a time when the “motel” was still a fairly recent contrivance, having originated in 1925 in San Luis Obispo. Redford preferred the word “wigwam” instead of “teepee” (or “tipi”) and was unconcerned with the fact that Native Americans in only a portion of the country actually ever lived in such accommodations.

Ratay contends that Redford likely was not all that worried about a perfect rendition. “While Redford collected authentic 24 ROUTE Magazine

Native American artifacts, I doubt he was interested in creating an authentic Native American experience for guests at his motels. He wanted to offer everyday Americans the popularized experience they already knew from seeing depictions of Native Americans in Hollywood movies and in books and comics.”

That first wigwam complex in Kentucky was located along a strand of what was originally the Dixie Highway, a ribbon of road envisioned and championed by Carl Fisher of automotive fame. It was an ideal location to snare motorists en route to and from the Deep South, because that portion of the old highway had travelers from Chicago, Detroit, and Cincinnati all funneling together from different northern legs of the Dixie.

The chain grew slowly once Redford received a patent for his design, with each wigwam specified at 14 feet in diameter and 32 feet in height. Redford abruptly shuttered Village #1 in 1937, though, because he felt like his home state of Kentucky was more likely to favor maintaining and promoting U.S. Highway 31W rather than its easterly option. He quickly built Village #2 in nearby Cave City and followed it with complexes in New Orleans (Village #3) and Bessemer, Alabama, (Village #5, oddly out of sequence) in 1940. All that differed between the locations was the number of units.

These were followed by Orlando, Florida, (Village #4) in 1948, and finally Rialto, California, (Village #7, once more out of sequence) in 1949 and Holbrook, Arizona, (Village #6) in 1950. These two were the last entrants in the chain, and along with the location back in Cave City are the only three to have survived developers and their wrecking balls.

“Wigwam Village #7 was built in Rialto (San Bernardino County) because that’s where Redford wanted it,” said Ratay.

“Unlike other Wigwam Villages [#3 – #6], which were built for franchisees, Redford built Village #7 for himself.” It has 19 units, plus the conical office building.

Redford saw it as his retirement home, but despite his good intentions, poor health interrupted his plan, and he died in 1958. “He likely built it there because that’s where he wanted to live. Given that #7 is the only Village with two rows of wigwams instead of just one, it seems Redford also believed he could attract quite a few guests to stay there,” Ratay continued.

By the 1960s, though, tourist fascination with the wigwams had waned. Their tastes in lodging started gravitating heavily toward homogenized corporate chains that offered predictability as a selling proposition. As for roadside attractions, travelers demanded much more elaborate facilities that easily outshone the tiny wigwams.

The three survivors steadily slipped into various stages of disrepair and even disrepute, but over time, modernday tourists slowly started slaking their thirst for nostalgia

Samir, Jagdish, and Ramila Patel at their Wigwam Village in Rialto, California.

by patronizing them in growing numbers. The Cave City wigwams are currently undergoing renovation, but it is Village #7 in California, renovated early in this century, that has consistently put sleeping in a teepee on par with any major chain.

And Then a Turning Point Jagdish and Ramila Patel (now 58 and 64, respectively) had immigrated from India to the U.S. in 1979, settling in San Bernardino. Jagdish quickly went to work in the dry-cleaning business, but by the 1990s, he, like many immigrants from India before him, had found himself with other family members in the lodging business. The Foothill Motel, located along Route 66 a short distance west of San Bernardino, became the couple’s entree into an entirely different line of work.

It was there that he learned the skills needed for owning and operating hospitality establishments. He was one among many Indian Americans who had come to the U.S. in search of economic opportunity, much like European immigrants had many decades prior.

In the process of commuting to and from his job in dry cleaning, and then with their Foothill Motel, Jagdish had driven past Wigwam Village #7 every day. He saw how

it continued to decline, that its clientele were far from noteworthy, and that it had become one among many seedy properties lining that section of the Mother Road.

So, he bought it.

“I first discovered the Wigwam Motel when I moved to America in 1979. My wife and I lived down the street at our small motel and I would pass by the hotel every day when I went to work in Fontana. The unique structure of the motel fascinated me as I’d never seen anything like it. The motel eventually came up for sale as the previous owner was not present and the property was run off of a lessee. I had always told myself, if the opportunity came up to buy the property, I would not miss it.

I knew the significance of the motel after living in the area for 20 years and gradually learning about Route 66 and what the motel was originally built for. We had a hotel business in the [previous] years and saw the potential with a lot of tourists coming into a place like this. We saw a lot of opportunity to grow upon it for my family and my kids,” said Jagdish.

But Jagdish not only saw financial security — he also recognized the value of preserving unique properties like the Wigwam in California. He saw firsthand what nostalgiabased tourism was all about, a concept completely alien in his native culture. And his fascination with antiques and other ROUTE Magazine 25

bad reputation,” said Samir. But Samir appreciated his dad’s vision. “The Americana aspect, the kitschiness, that fascinated him more than anything. He thought if he bought it and repaired it, he could bring it back to life. My father has dedicated 20 years and many more ahead of his life to restoring and preserving this property. There were many of us in the family questioning my father’s choice of buying the property at first because it was in such a horrible state, but he had vision and saw through all the disrepair to the beauty of the Wigwam Motel. As a young kid growing up, I saw firsthand how it difficult it was at first for my parents to restore and operate the property.”

It took a lot of work, perhaps more than they expected, to which the family spent 2003 through 2005 to complete. “It had the whole reputation of being a place where you rented rooms by the hour. So, when we bought it, the goal was to remodel and change the whole face of it,” Samir continued.

“It was everything from A to Z. Underground wiring, updating the rooms, putting new drywall in, new TVs, new bathroom fixtures, new AC. We did the stucco on the outside and the pool.” But soon the motel was ready to regain its place as a key destination on Route 66.

Nostalgic Yearnings

artifacts that he saw in his new homeland made it easier for him to recognize that Wigwam Village #7 was not just an investment property, but also a commitment to preserving 20th Century American history.

All in the Family Throughout the 19 years that the Patels have owned Wigwam Village #7, they have primarily relegated management to their sons, starting first with eldest child Manny, followed

by Kumar, and more recently Samir. Jagdish and Ramila are abiding by their own cultural practices not only in terms of a shared governance, but also generational training.

Samir was originally a pre-med student at the University of California, San Diego, where he completed his undergraduate degree in Human Biology in 2011 but wound up leaving his studies in order to run a couple of different properties. With a new focus, he spent seven years building his understanding of the hospitality industry. And when his older brother Kumar moved on in late 2017, he felt the need to continue in the family tradition. Although a daughter is also in the mix, she has had little to do with the Wigwams, but is instead involved with other family properties. The sons, though, have had direct hands-on experience and are trained to continue in their parents’ footsteps.

“The place was rundown when my dad bought it. I thought, ‘What are you doing, Dad?’ The place had a 26 ROUTE Magazine

Wigwam Village #7 is the recipient of a rising tide of nostalgia among American travelers, as well as international travelers wishing to have an American experience. While many Route 66 travelers gravitate toward standard midcentury motels as the primary conduit for such connections, the Wigwam Motel in California offers a glimpse into a very different aspect of historic roadside architecture and lodging.

They represent a quickly vanishing side of vintage roadside hospitality.

“I think interest in the remaining Wigwams is really due to nostalgia. They’re icons of the Golden Age of Family Road Trips,” Ratay intoned. “They remind people of a time when you just loaded up the kids in the station wagon and hit the open road, bound for adventure. You never knew what awaited you around the next bend. For many people, a Wigwam Village was one of those fun and exciting discoveries.”

And so, travelers continue to find their way to Wigwam Village #7, whether they be Route 66 sojourners or even LA locals seeking a brief respite. They see the wigwams as emblematic of a period far different from today, one in which entrepreneurs like Redford invested what they had in hopes of meeting the needs of people on the road.

Similarly, modern-day investors like Jagdish Patel have embraced the same proposition. It’s safe to say that the dream Redford had more than 70 years ago will live on for generations to come in the Patel family. “I don’t want to sell it. I will be retired soon. [But] I want to keep it in the family somehow.”

“I’m pretty young still,” noted Samir. “My parents picked it up when they were in their 40s. I spend most of my time here, but as my parents did by investing in other hotels, I plan to do the same. I plan on managing and preserving it.”

All the more reassuring that future Route 66 travelers will be able to experience the same thing that Redford, and later, Jagdish, envisioned. You can call it novelty architecture, cultural appropriation, or just plain American kitschiness, but it’s all part of the purely American travel tradition.

ROUTE Magazine 27

AMERICA’S MOST LOVED

By Heide Brandes 28 ROUTE Magazine

Images courtesy of the Will Rogers Museum.

I

n the steamy late-summer month of August 1935, the world mourned. Banks and federal buildings shut their doors. The U.S. Congress let out for the day, movie theaters closed, radio shows went silent, Wall Street shuttered its doors, and newspapers around the world splashed headlines of the death of America’s favorite humorist, Will Rogers.

Flags were flown at half-staff by federal and state authorities. More than 12,000 motion picture theater screens went dark for two minutes at 2:00PM on August 22 in tribute. Newspapers and editorials called on then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt to declare a national holiday and day of mourning to honor Rogers.

On August 15, 1935, Will Rogers had died in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska, along with the famous Oklahoma aviator Wiley Post, and grief spread across the world in a black wave of disbelief, tears, shock, and sadness.

As the news rocked the world that America’s top movie star, radio personality, and author had perished, the nation wept.

The impact that this humble man from Oklahoma had on entertainment, popular culture, and journalism at the time were such that the national mourning of his death rivaled the grief usually reserved for presidents and heroes.

At the time of his death, Will Rogers was perhaps the most beloved and respected man in the world. At the height of his career, he was the top radio personality, the #1 Box Office draw, the nation’s most in-demand public speaker, and the most read newspaper columnist in history. He was a comedian and author of many books, a world traveler, and a staunch supporter of charities. At the Will Rogers Museum in Oklahoma, the history and the accomplishments of Rogers, who famously said, “I never met a man I didn’t like,” keep his memory alive.

“For the first 40 years, people came here to pay their respects to Will Rogers. You walked in the door, you took your hat off, you paid homage to Will, and you reminisced about what he meant to your family,” said Tad Jones, Executive Director of the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma. “But today, there are very, very few people alive who remember Will. So, everybody here now is coming because they’ve heard about Will from their grandparents, or they come because they know their grandparents loved Will.”

Fortunately, the museum dedicated to one of the most beloved Americans in history is located right along Oklahoma’s stretch of Route 66. Tourists who may never have heard of the man who was once the top entertainer in the world now buzz through, thanks to the car clubs and bus tours that follow the Mother Road.

“Because of Route 66, a steady flow of people come to learn about the history of Will. They get to see and learn about his life. Most people are amazed at what a big star he was,” said Jones.

“But it’s getting harder and harder to keep that legacy alive.”

A Mind of His Own William Penn Adair Rogers was born on Election Day, November 4, 1879, in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), the youngest of eight children, to Clement Vann Rogers and Mary America Schrimsher, who were both of mixedrace ancestry, white and Cherokee. His first lungful of air was drawn in a seven-room log home known as “the White House on the Verdigris River” near present-day Oolagah.

Will was a precocious child — sharp-witted but hard to control. Even as a toddler, he was a performer, and that spirit caused him to clash with his serious father, who wished Will to be more business minded.

“He was very restless. He had tons of energy, and he didn’t like school in the traditional sense. He loved to read, but he spent a lot of time goofing off and roping,” said Jones. “He was known for roping his friends and girls in the class.”

Will was such a character that his father tried different schools to straighten the boy out, including a military school. “He just got more demerits, because he liked having fun. He was kind of a class clown. That didn’t work too well for the military. You can’t be roping people,” Jones said. “He never got past the 10th grade, but he did have a passion for learning, and he became an avid reader. But when he was growing up, he loved roping and loved being a cowboy.”

In 1899, Will’s father eventually gave him his birthplace ranch, where he had grown up. Will ran the Dog Iron Ranch for three years before realizing that he didn’t particularly like the business side of ranching — he just wanted to be a cowboy. So, at age 22, he sold the ranch back to his father, and in 1902, took off with a friend to South America.

“When he got down there, he discovered that it wasn’t very fun being a ‘gaucho’ and living off the land,” said Jones. “Will’s friend had left and gone back home, so Will was by himself. But these moments are when opportunities arise.” Instead of giving up, Will loaded a bunch of cattle onto a boat and headed to South Africa. That proved to be a disastrous idea, and soon, the young cowboy was dead broke.

“He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he saw a sign for Texas Jack’s Wild West Show. They were looking for somebody who could do trick roping. Will spent his whole growing up roping. So, he applied for the job, and that was his first foray into show business,” Jones added.

Will had a way with the audiences, and he became a wellknown roper on the Wild West circuits, performing in South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia before moving back to America. He landed in New York City in 1905, joining the vaudeville crowd as a trick roper after pulling off an act of daring that only Will Rogers could do.

One night in April 1905, Will was at a show in Madison Square Garden when a wild steer broke free of the arena and began barreling through the crowds in the viewing stands.

Will sprang into action and roped the steer, which earned him front-page fame from the newspapers. The crowds loved him, and Will was signed by vaudeville producer Willie Hammerstein. For more than a decade, according to a 1915 New York Times article, Will worked for 50 weeks a year at the city’s myriad vaudeville theaters.

During his decade in New York City, Will married Betty Blake on November 25, 1908, and the two honeymooned in the “Big Apple” where Will was performing. Before his vaudeville career began, Will had met Betty in 1900 in ROUTE Magazine 29

The Making of a Star

Will Rogers driving an early Ford Model A.

Oolagah. The two had corresponded regularly, and in 1906, Will finally proposed. Betty wasn’t quite sure about being the wife of a performer, but she accepted. Eventually, her reluctance to being a performer’s wife faded, and she became his staunch supporter and lifelong love.

Meanwhile, other trick ropers started coming into vaudeville, and Will knew he needed to expand his show.

“So, one night, he messed up a trick and he made a comment, and people laughed. And he was kind of upset because trick roping was his craft,” said Jones. “People told him afterward, ‘No, no, that was good. You want people laughing.’ So, he started making mistakes on purpose, and had different lines that he would say to make people laugh.”

Observing the popularity of Will’s patter, Betty suggested that he start adding comments on the goings-on of the day to his shows. “That’s when his star just took off,” said Jones. “He became like Johnny Carson or Jay Leno or Jimmy Fallon. He hosted a show every night that was unique. People couldn’t wait to see who Will was going to make fun of that night.’”

In 1915, Rogers signed on with Florenz Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic, a vaudeville revue that performed at midnight in the top-floor nightclub of Ziegfeld’s New Amsterdam Theatre.

Appearing in his cowboy outfit and playing with his lasso, Will opened every night with the line, “Well, what shall I talk about? I ain’t got anything funny to say. All I know is what I read in the papers.”

From Midnight Frolic, Will moved to the prestigious Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway in 1916. With a mix of good-ole-boy humor and self-deprecating fun, no one was safe from Will’s satire.

Although he picked on both political parties equally and poked fun at the newsmakers of the day, he never came off as snide, malicious, or mean.

The Follies was only the first step in Will Rogers’ journey to becoming the most popular entertainer alive. He performed with the Follies from 1915 to 1925, but thanks to his popularity and his witty monologues, he was soon noticed by the movie industry. His first silent film, Laughing Bill Hyde, was made in 1918, and for the next few years, producer Sam Goldwyn cast him in more silent movies. When sound films began, Will Rogers was among the first to become a true movie star.

“At the time, Will and Charlie Chaplin were the two most successful people to come out of vaudeville. Charlie Chaplin was the top in the silent movies and Will did what they call the ‘talkies,’” said Todd Vrandenburg, executive director at Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation.

Will made his first talking picture, They Had to See Paris, in 1929 with the Fox Film Corporation. He went on to star in other popular films, including A Connecticut Yankee in 1931, based on Mark Twain’s humorous novel, and State Fair in 1933. In total, Will starred in 71 films—50 silent films and 21 “talkies.”

So much more than just a movie star, Will also became a prominent radio broadcaster and political commentator.

“HERE WAS A MAN APPRECIATED BY ALL OF THE COUNTRIES; IT DIDN’T MATTER YOUR RACE, RELIGION, ETHNIC BACKGROUND, OR INCOME LEVELS. EVERYBODY LOVED WILL ROGERS” 30 ROUTE Magazine

Besides penning the most popular daily syndicated column in the U.S. (writing a total of more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns), he authored six books. He was even nominated (but declined) to run for governor of Oklahoma and became honorary mayor of Beverly Hills in 1925.

“Journalists like to refer to Will as the original Tweeter.

Will was sending out his daily telegrams all the time when he read the paper and had his observations. The wires would pick up those daily telegrams and all the newspapers would run Will’s quote of the day,” said Vrandenburg. “He really was the most popular person in the world.”

A Relevant Legacy While the world mourned the death of Will Rogers, it also moved quickly to honor him. Will’s wife Betty built Will Rogers with wife Betty and their three children. a memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma, which was dedicated in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt. In 1944, Visitors can learn more about “Oklahoma’s Favorite Will’s body was moved from California to be laid to rest Son” at various museums and sites throughout America, at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum, along with his son including the 400-acre Will Rogers Dog Iron Ranch and Fred, who died at age two. That same year, Betty passed, Birthplace Home in Oologah, Oklahoma. Of course, and now rests beside her husband and son. the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore is the During the 1920s, Will had bought land in Santa Monica pinnacle of all things Will Rogers — ­ it has the largest and built a home and ranch on 359 acres overlooking the collection of Will Rogers memorabilia in the world, plus all Pacific Ocean. After his death, Betty donated Will’s ranch, of his writings. along with the 31-room ranch house with neighboring “Will Rogers was a great citizen role model, and part of guest housing, a stable, corrals, riding ring, roping arena, what we do here at the Will Rogers Museum shows what polo field, golf course and riding trails, to the California kind of person he was. Here was a man appreciated by State Parks system. In 1944, the Will Rogers State Park was all of the countries; it didn’t matter your race, religion, created from his property as a historic park. ethnic background, or income levels. Everybody loved Will Keeping Will’s legacy alive more than 60 years later, Rogers,” said Jones. “Why did so many people love him? however, is becoming more of a challenge. The Will Rogers He worked hard. He treated people with respect. He looked Memorial Museum battles that challenge every day, as does at the good in people. He didn’t take things too personally.

Jennifer Rogers-Etcheverry, Will’s great-granddaughter.

He laughed. We share that if you can implement these “It stuns me that people don’t know who Will Rogers is, traits, then you can succeed, have good friendships, and but I guess time marches on. It’s hard, and that’s my job and have a good and fulfilling life as Will Rogers did.” role as the family spokesperson,” said Rogers-Etcheverry.

Route 66 has been home to many colorful personalities “I just want to keep his legacy alive. I’m a co-founder of since its inception in 1926. Many of them have since passed a foundation that we are starting in the California Pacific on, but the legacy that they leave, and the impact and joy Palisades, which will support Will Rogers State Historic Park.” that they brought while here, well, lucky for us all, that just Route 66 also keeps Will’s legacy alive. In 1952, Route seems to linger on.

66 was dedicated as the Will Rogers Memorial Highway Oklahoma’s Favorite Son. The Cowboy Philosopher. Every after the movie The Will Rogers Story debuted. The movie man’s friend. Not bad for a restless school drop-out with a starred Will Rogers Jr. playing his dad, and the entire cast penchant for roping anything that moved. of the movie drove Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica in honor of Will.

ROUTE Magazine 31

OASIS IN THE Photograph by David J. Schwartz - Pics On Route 66 32 ROUTE Magazine

MOUNTAINS ROUTE Magazine 33

34 ROUTE Magazine

To add cinematic insult to injury, the entire complex was blown up in the filming of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s 1991 action film, Universal Soldier. Production crews built a makeshift station around the ruins, which served as prop for the detonation.

But there was still another chapter in the old bones of the historic oasis when Ned Leuchtner, aged 60 and then a real estate broker in Chicago, bought the place in 2001, after stumbling upon the ruins and curious rubble, and repurposed Cool Springs as a tourist destination and gift shop.

“I have always been fascinated with history,” said Leuchtner.

“When I was a kid, we would take road trips up into Wisconsin. I was fascinated with the old gas stations. To break into the real estate market, I had to take the properties that the other brokers did not want to deal with. That’s how I got to know gas stations and their old owners.” Then in his middle age, Leuchtner was starting to think about potential retirement.

“That was the mindset I took with me out to Kingman in 1997, to look at some vacant land. Something went through me when I was out there. I told the real estate guy I was working with, ‘Hey, find out what happened and who owns this site.’”

After a month, the realtor had located an elderly woman in Lake Havasu City, but she wasn’t interested in selling. When Leuchtner came upon the site, all that remained was a pile of rocks, some concrete slabs, and the original stone pillars, but he was committed. Finally, with persistence on his side, the owner finally acquiesced in 2001. That woman — Nancy Schoenherr — was the surviving spouse of the couple who ran Cool Springs many decades earlier. They became close friends.

“She became a grandma to me,” Leuchtner said fondly.

It took another three years of hard work to painstakingly rebuild the desert stop, culminating with its reopening in 2004. “It marks the first time that the lights were on there since 1966,” Leuchtner recalled. “The hardest thing was to get power back. It took three and a half years. When it burned down in ‘66, they chopped down the power poles.”

While there are gas pumps out front once again, they are merely decoration and photo op, a convincing flourish that Leuchtner included in pursuit of authenticity. Today’s Cool Springs is strictly a gift shop and a place to pick up a cold drink. Although Leuchtner has never lived on-site during his ownership tenure, he has always had a resident manager or tenant to run and secure the place. Leuchtner hopes to retire soon and has plans to build a couple of condos made to resemble the original guest cabins. He would live in one, and perhaps allow a caretaker to reside in the other, thus placing him personally along the Mother Road.

The Gold Road is rather quiet these days, used only by a handful of locals and intrepid Route 66 travelers who desire a taste of Arizona’s desert history. The Black Mountains loom in the distance and the rusting relics of unfortunate vehicles that crashed long ago down in the valley below shimmer in the relentless sun. This is a quiet country and Cool Springs is still very much the needed reprieve for motorists that it has always been.

Words by Nick Gerlich.

T

he road leading up to and crossing Arizona’s Black Mountains is a nail-biter. Guard rails are just wishful thinking, and the unending bends and curves are an apt metaphor of the struggle early travelers had in the bone-dry Mojave. It’s a segment known as the Gold Road, because of the mines on the western slopes en route to Oatman. It is a road that the Dust Bowl refugees would have followed on their journeys of hope. If they had not broken down by then, this climb might be what pushed their vehicle to its limit. It was christened Route 66 in 1926, and this stretch of highway, between Kingman and Needles, was legendary for taxing motorists as well as their fourwheeled steeds.

Which explains why about halfway up that grade, a roadside attraction known as Cool Springs has long beckoned drivers with at least the thought of a temperate break from the steady relentless climb. Cars routinely overheated in the intense desert sun. While the elevation change is not much for today’s vehicles to overcome, that could not be said a century ago. Kingman sits at a little more than 3,300 feet, but the road quickly drops to about 2,200 feet outside of town as motorists mark their entry into the Mojave. It is then that climbing begins in earnest.

The summit of the range — known as Sitgreaves Pass — is at nearly 3,600 feet. Couple the steep gradient with hellish summer heat, and motorists could only pray to make it over.

The actual springs, once frequented by indigenous people and located across the road, were not as important as the contemporary oasis.

Today, thanks to restoration-minded Ned Leuchtner, Cool Springs still serves motorists on that lonely ribbon of pavement, even if modern autos have much better cooling systems.

The original rock structure was built in the 1920s by N.R. Dunton, selling much-needed fuel and oil to those daring to continue west. Eventually, a cafe, bar, and cabins were added.

Cool Springs was then sold to James Walker, a native of Huntington, Indiana, who had himself moved west with his family. He added the cabins and made improvements to the station. His wife, Mary, cooked and ran the cafe, with chicken dinners becoming her signature dish. After only a few years and a contentious marriage, James Walker returned to the Midwest and left the station to his thenwife. Mary married Floyd Spidell in the 1940s, and the pair continued to run the business together.

Route 66 was rerouted in 1953, though, with a straight shot from Kingman to Needles, via Yucca. The terrain was much gentler, and motorists took to it quickly. Cool Springs suffered, but managed to hang on, if only for a little while.

The Spidells split up, with Floyd receiving the station.

Unable to take care of it alone, he asked his niece and her husband, Nancy and Chuck Schoenherr, to move in. They ran it until 1966, when it was finally shuttered. Later that year, it burned down.

Experience outdoor fun, incredible attractions, historic Route 66, and so much more. www.experiencewilliams.com ROUTE Magazine 35

W

hen local school principal Gary Greff noticed the decline of his town’s economy, he decided to take matters into his own hands. There wasn’t much to see or do in his little North Dakota town of Regent; it was slowly becoming another victim of time and technology. However, instead of giving up and letting his hometown fall into decay, he created something that would put it back on the map and make it a bonafide destination in its own right.

In 1989, Greff started building the first of what would become seven giant metal sculptures spanning 32 miles of highway near Regent, North Dakota. His goal: to draw people from the interstate about 30 miles to the south.

He had no experience in welding or metal working, but that didn’t stop him from creating the pieces of roadside art that now stand prominently along a stretch of road known as the Enchanted Highway. He drew inspiration from the world around him and from what could be found in North Dakota, constructing fantastic images of birds, fish, grasshoppers, and other nature-inspired scenes.

“My first inspiration was when a farmer out of town made a man out of metal, and it dawned on me that the ranchers and farmers of the Midwest all had to know how to weld,” said Greff. “So, I thought, let’s use that to our advantage.

Nobody’s going to drive thirty miles out of the way for normal sculptures, but what about the world’s largest?”

Greff certainly took that idea and ran with it. He always wanted to make giant, unusual sculptures, but some weren’t very feasible. Eventually, though, he completed his first creation, “Tin Family,” in 1991, depicting a whimsical rendition of a farmer with his wife and son. From there he was on a roll. As of 2002, “Geese in Flight” held the world record for the largest scrap metal sculpture. At its highest point, “Deer Crossing” measures up to 75 feet tall. Each art piece, according to Greff, is slightly unfinished. He hopes that whoever takes over after him will have the same vision and continue to expand his highway.

As word of Greff’s art project spread, tourists soon began arriving in Regent from all around. When the Regent School 36 ROUTE Magazine

closed—which also happened to be the school he worked at until leaving to begin work on the Highway—the building was left vacant. This was a golden opportunity; there were no hotels in Regent, and visitors were pouring into town.

“I figured that if Regent was ever going to be a destination, we would need a place for people to stay. We bought the building and totally gutted the inside and converted it into a hotel. We added a tavern and a steakhouse, and I wanted to tie it into the Enchanted Highway. I thought, what ties into the word enchanted? A castle.”

Alongside his hotel, Greff hopes to continue building Regent’s reputation with more sculptures and a metal art theme park. Greff’s vision and determination to bring his town back to life resonates with a lot of people and is reminiscent of the roads that inspired many similar experiences.

What makes the Enchanted Highway so special, beyond the obvious, is that it is simply a highway. The sculptures sit about 30 miles off of I-94, on a road that doesn’t really have a designation beyond the Enchanted Highway. But it feels like an old historic route, moving over grassy hills and through fields of wheat and corn, like Route 90 in the south, Highway 50 through Nevada, or the all-important Route 66.

“Route 66 started with the idea of something unique. You get a different experience through different views. I think the Enchanted Highway ties into that sort of feeling. You don’t have to drive the interstates to see America. You drive the Enchanted Highway, and you know what made America what it is. You see the hard work of the farmers, the grain, the cattle, the rolling hills, then you see the sculptures, and it’s a whole different feeling.”

Greff’s vision helped make Regent “somewhere” again.

He plays with themes of the Midwest, of the part of America that so often gets overlooked but is so important to the life of the country. His pieces represent so much more than just a giant grasshopper or geese. So many remote towns are dying because they don’t have anything there to help keep things going; Greff’s work reminds these communities that there are things they can do, and every town is worth saving.

Image by Skvader.

America’s Enchanted Highway

WHERE T HE MO T HER ROAD BEGINS

Route 66 defined a remarkable era in our nation’s history – and it lives on today in Illinois’ Route 66’s many roadside attractions, museums, and restaurants – it’s the shining ribbon of blacktop we call ‘The Mother Road’.

SPE N D SOME T IME ON T HE I L L I N O I S R O U T E 6 6 S C E N I C B Y WA Y A N D DI S C OV E R ROU T E 6 6 Start planning your trip now at www.illinoisroute66.org. Request a visitor’s guide by emailing info@illinoisroute66.org and make sure to check out our mobile app by searching for ‘Explore Illinois Route 66’ in the App Store and Google Play, to help with all of your Route 66 Illinois planning.

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EASY ON 38 ROUTE Magazine

THE CORNER Photograph by David J. Schwartz - Pics On Route 66 ROUTE Magazine 39

I

n the heart of downtown Winslow, Arizona, lies a hub of ‘70s nostalgia and Route 66 tourism. It is a place that delights history buffs and music enthusiasts alike. And along Route 66, there is no other place quite like it. We would like to introduce you to Standin’ on the Corner Park.

The park is easy to find, recognizable by a large Route 66 highway shield covering the intersection of Route 66 and North Kinsley Avenue, a prominent storefront mural painted over a rustic brick wall, and a bright red Flatbed Ford truck parked alongside it. The park commemorates Winslow’s fortunate association with the 1972 Eagles anthem, “Take it Easy,” and since the late 1990s, has drawn in a plethora of curious Route 66 travelers, all eager for a photo opportunity.

However, there is one lone figure that has stood guard over this corner since the park’s opening. He is an individual that has garnered his own unique status as a prominent Route 66 attraction. This stagnant figure is the famous “Standin’ on the Corner” statue, nicknamed “Easy” — a street-level statue of a ‘70s-style guitar player that is intended to reflect a likeness to the iconic musician, Jackson Browne. What adds to the legacy of this statue is not only its status as a Route 66 photo opportunity, but the story of its creation and the man behind it, Montana-based artist Ron Adamson.

The story of “Easy’s’”creation began in 1997 with the establishment of the Standin’ on the Corner Foundation, months before Adamson was contacted as a potential contributor to the project. Since the construction of I-40 in the late ‘70s, Winslow had suffered decades of declining tourism, something that the 14 original members of the Standin’ on the Corner Foundation were determined to change. The foundation wanted to create something worth pulling over and checking out — a memorable site that would commemorate the notoriety of “Take it Easy” and successfully put Winslow back on the map.

“The majority of our downtown district had been boarded up and closed, so the idea was to provide a new reason for people to stop into town,” said Roberta Cano, mayor of Winslow. Since Jackson Browne’s famous lyrics did not reference a specific corner in Winslow, foundation members Glenn and Yvonne Howeth decided to provide locals and tourists with a visual frame of reference for the corner in “Take it Easy,” in the form of a mural and a statue placed in the center of town. In their search for the artist who would make this vision a reality, Adamson was contacted.

“I was never going to say no, because I loved the music of the Eagles,” said Adamson. “[But] I had no idea that later on, it would become such a major factor in my life.”

Adamson quickly set himself apart from other candidates when, during negotiations with the foundation, he contested their request to submit a drawing of “Easy” for his proposal.

“I always refer to myself as a three-dimensional artist with two-dimensional class,” said Adamson. “I just never draw. I see it in my head and then go from there.”

Instead, he created a mockup sculpture of “Easy”and flew to Winslow to present it face-to-face to Glenn and Yvonne Howeth. Adamson’s three-dimensional proposal evidently left an impression on the foundation; after months of consideration, he was informed in 1998 that he had been tasked with casting

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“

In telling his African family’s journey on Route 66, the statue.

Eagerthe to story bringoflife to the nostalgic ‘70s anthem, Brennen Matthews made an important contribution to the legAdamson got to work; has however, his efforts would require of the highway.

He offers both a new passion. voice and a new look at extremeacy patience, innovation, and artistic Road.” | yet michael wallis, New York bestselling Easy the wasMother an exciting, difficult, project for Times Adamson, author of Route 66: The Mother Road, from the foreword who thus far in his career had never sculpted a human being in a standing position. He was also missing a blast furnace, An impassioned and engaging road trip along and deep inside necessary for casting the mold for the bronze statue. In order Route 66, with a bright, thoughtful guide and his engaging family. to save both time, improvised and be a If you money ever wantand to travel theAdamson Mother Road yourself, it would learnedterrifi howc, to create his own blast furnace from scratch quirky guide. If you don’t have the time to make that quintusing aessential 55-gallon drumdrive, andthe a backwards Kirby vacuum.

American book is as close as you’ll come to expeUsing riencing the makeshift furnace, builtNew his York ownTimes the sheerblast wonder of it.” | Adamson stephen fried, bestselling authorthe of Appetite America: Harvey and the Business foundry and casted bronzeformold forFred Easy. of Civilizing the Wild West—One MealIathad a Time “Very few artists cast their own work, and never done it before, so it took several months for me to figure that part out,” said Adamson. The bronze figure for the statue was miles to go is the story of a family from Africa in search of authentic Amercastedicainalong thethe form of a six-foot tall, denim-clad guitar player, country’s most famous highway, Route 66. Traveling the scenic with inspiration from the they height figure of Adamson’s byway from Illinois to both California, comeand across a fascinating assortment son, as well as landmarks, the parted haircut sported JacksonandBrowne. of historical partake in quirky roadsideby attractions, meet more than few colorful characters.

After a ayear of work, the opening ceremony for the Standin’ Brennen Matthews, along Adamson’s with his wife and their son, on the Corner Park — and deadline —come wasface-to-face with real America in all of its strange beauty and complicated history as the approaching. Easy was almost finished; however, disaster family explores what many consider to be the pulse of a nation. Their unique struckperspective two days before Adamson was scheduled to arrive in on the Main Street of America develops into a true appreciation Winslow to present the statue.

While pouring the and metal for the for what makes America so special.

By joining Matthews his family on backside Easy’s guitar, thereaders moldnotblew out, andfirsthand Adamson their of cross-country adventure, only experience the sights and sounds of the but they are also given the opportunity to reflect on was again forced toroad, improvise.

American its of varied Milesdidn’t to Go is not just aup travel story “I took the culture good and side thelandscapes. guitar that blow and but a tale of hopes, ambitions, and struggles. It is the record of an America as cut it in half. I [then] used that side to weld the back of it, it once was and one that, in some places, still persists. which made it skinnier.” brennenworked matthewsfor is the40 editor of ROUTE, the nation’s leading national Adamson hours straight, modifying theRoute 66 and classic Americana magazine. guitar and preparing the statue for transport. When he and his isbn 978-0-8263-6401-2 wife finally drove to Winslow and arrived in town, they were met with hundreds of townspeople playing “Take it Easy” University of New Mexico Press tr avel/recreation throughout the main square, anxiously awaiting a glimpse of unmpress.com southwest Adamson’s finished project.

“All of these hands jumped in, and Easy was carried off. We put Easy on the ground, and the rest is history.”

Since that day, the statue has grown to become one of the most beloved Route 66 attractions in the country. Every year since 1999, Winslow has hosted a Standin’ on the Corner festival with live music, where tourists from all around the world gather to celebrate the Eagles and capture a photo with Easy.

“If I didn’t live in Winslow and I was traveling through, my husband would have to pull over, drive through town, and stop so that I could get a picture on the corner,” said Mayor Cano.

Adamson did not return to Winslow until years after the opening ceremony but has since found himself “absolutely dumbfounded” at the reception of his work. The impact of Easy also struck a personal chord with Adamson when, years after the statue’s completion, he recovered an old photo of his grandfather posed on Route 66 with a guitar in the exact same position that Easy maintains today.

“It’s just kind of odd how it all worked out. It’s a tremendous coincidence, and I wish that my grandfather could have been alive to see it.”

Just like many other Route 66 roadside attractions, the story behind this bronze statue is strikingly more human than what meets the eye.

“

On Sale Now

MILES to GO

Miles to Go An African Family in Search of America along Route 66

Matthews

Brennen Matthews; foreword By Michael wallis $24.95 paper 978-0-8263-6401-2 280 pp. 5.5 × 8.5 in 29 halftones, 9 maps October 2022

“

An impassioned and engaging road trip along and deep inside Route 66, with a bright, thoughtful guide and his engaging family..” | Stephen Fr ied, New York Times bestselling author of Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West—One Meal at a Time

University of new Mexico Press

| unmpress.com

ROUTE Magazine 41

A CONVERSATION WITH

Gordon Lightfoot

By Brennen Matthews Photographs by Lorne Bridgman

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ROUTE Magazine 43

C

anada is a nation that has always given birth to a talented crop of music stars. The country’s entertainment industry is mature and growing, but true success has always been defined by an entertainer’s ability to make it south of the border, to have their music top the larger, more competitive, success-making charts found in America. In the 1960s and ‘70s, along with Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, no one was more successful in this regard than Ontario native, Gordon Lightfoot. The singer-songwriter’s sound was clearly embraced by a wide audience who appreciated his folky pop sound that could be relied on to tell a story. Lightfoot’s sweet simple sound waxed poetic about lost love and broken relationships or the lure of the open highway and took listeners on an emotional journey. Bob Dylan once said that Lightfoot sang songs that an audience wished would never end. And now, even at the age of 83, Gordon Lightfoot is continuing on his quest to bring his much-loved music to the world.

You come from a small town in Ontario, Canada, and have gone on to become one of the world’s most celebrated singer/songwriters, with timeless hits and an enviable career that spans decades. Did you always know that you wanted to become a musician?

It began when I was three years old. When I would go to sleep at night, I would dream. Scores of classical music would go through my head. Music that I had never heard before. My mother and father would be sleeping in the next room, and my mother would hear me singing along with this stuff, and she, as soon as I was old enough, I think about five, started me on piano lessons. Then two or three years later she got me singing and entered me in the junior choir at the church. Soon after, I started to perform solos [there].

In grade seven my teachers began training me to sing. So, by the time I was twelve or thirteen, I competed two years in a row, in the Kiwanis Festival in Toronto. The first time I ever sang in Massey Hall was at age thirteen. I did a solo performance where I had my own keyboard accompanist.

Did you play both the piano and the guitar at that time?

I never became a piano player. I know all the keys and all the scales, how to transpose... I know all that stuff. The keyboard was a tool that I used to figure out my musical problems.

Somewhere along the line I picked up on the guitar. When Elvis Presley came on the scene, I was fourteen years old, and when I heard You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog and Heartbreak Hotel, I immediately went and got myself a guitar.

That’s how it all got started.

When did you make the big move to California?

When I was in High School, I used to read Downbeat Magazine.

It was a jazz magazine. There was an advertisement for a school called Westlake College in Los Angeles. And being an adventurous kind of a kid, I thought that it might be good to go there. By eighteen, nineteen years of age I was attending Westlake College. I had to talk my parents into letting me go. When I was there, I took keyboard. I took five different subjects, but I only stayed for two semesters. I came home to [Ontario] for the summer and took a job as a driver for a linen supply company.

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I also joined a dance band. I was a vocalist, and I played the drums. When the fall came, I had to decide if I was going to go back and start my third semester, but I decided to stay in Toronto. I played with the band for a period of two-three years.

I was beginning to write songs by then, so I needed to move on.

You got your first record deal in 1966, but it was with a Canadian label.

Yeah, I recorded for Chateau Records. I got involved with the recording company early. Eventually, I had to buy myself out of contracts that I made earlier.

When I was twenty-one, I got my first contract for a management deal, with someone named Arch Snyder. [That] got me signed up with a guy named Edward Cassner whose office was located in Britain. On Denmark Street, in London!

The next thing I know, I’m in London, I’m playing in a summer replacement series. I had a good voice. I was a good performer. I did seven shows in Britain during that summer. It was 1963. Then I got married, that was my honeymoon. I put together a little band from this studio orchestra who played in the TV show that I was doing, and we went around and played all the American bases. I’d been over there for about five months when I came back to Toronto.

What led you back to the U.S. and to Warner Bros?

We had a folk revival going on that was pretty big time. There were great performers, too. Canadian folk singers Ian and Sylvia [Tyson] were there during that time, and I got to meet their manager. He took two of my songs that I had written — Early Morning Rain, and For Loving Me — to Peter, Paul, and Mary, to record. For Loving Me went up to number five on the billboard chart. As a result, I received an offer to sign with him, which I did. That was my entry, song writing.

In the late ‘60s, early ‘70s, there was that whole southern California rock, Laurel Canyon thing happening, and there were a number of Canadians, like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, heading to America to pursue their careers. Did you get to know many of them?

I knew Neil Young very well. I met Neil when he was in Buffalo Springfield. We used to have breakfast together at one of the restaurants here in [Toronto]. I met Joni in Detroit, right at the start of our careers. I was with her when Tom Rush picked up three [of her] songs for his eighth album, The Circle Game. I was there when she sang through that repertoire in her house with Chuck, her husband. We were sitting at the kitchen table; Tom Rush, myself, Joni, and Chuck, listening to her play those songs. She asked me, “Can you get me in touch with Albert Grossman?” I had just signed with Albert at that point, and I said, “Well gee,” I was feeling kind of insecure… this professional insecurity. I said that I would, but that he might not follow up.

Three weeks later, she signed a deal with David Geffen in LA!

If You Could Read My Mind came out in 1970, got repackaged eight or nine months later, and went on to sell over a million copies. What’s the story behind the song?

It’s a song about the failure of marriage. It gets into the emotional trauma that went along with all this stuff, because

I was writing about relationships. I was always unhappy, getting in and out of relationships, it made me very distressed, and it all came up in my songwriting. Many, many times that has happened. There’s always been something, some kind of emotional trauma going on that finds its way into my song writing. It happens by osmosis.

When I did If You Could Read My Mind, I was right in the middle of [leaving] my first wife. We had two kids.

I wasn’t thinking about the divorce, I wasn’t thinking about the lawyers. I was thinking about the content of what was in there. I was drawing from the emotional experience that I was going through. It found its way into the song. No matter how much it stung, you had to keep on writing tunes. You had a band and a recording contract, so you pressed on.

Nobody dreamed that it would become a hit; the album [originally entitled Sit Down Young Stranger before this became the title track] was out seven or eight months before the song emerged, and I was glad it did. It’s about peace through acceptance. It’s stood the test of time, about 30 years, and I never get tired of doing it. There are about nine tunes I play every concert, and this is one of them.

One of my favorite songs of yours is Carefree Highway. I’m sure that it has a great story.

Well, that was a road sign. We were driving from Flagstaff to Phoenix one night, after a show. It was about 1:00 AM, and we drove by a road sign that said, “carefree highway.” And I said to the bass player, who was driving, “Doesn’t that look like a song title?” So, the following week when I got back to Toronto, I sat down with it and got the job done.

But there was a real Ann. [The song] reaches way back to a time when I was about 20 or so. It’s one of those situations where you meet that one woman who knocks you out and then leaves you standing there and says she’s on her way.

I heard from her after a Massey Hall concert many years later; she stopped by to say hello. I don’t think she knew that she is the one the song was about, and I wasn’t about to tell her.

Carefree Highway somehow reflects the feeling of the quintessential American road trip. Have you done any road trips across America yourself or with your family?

Yes, but for work. I could’ve gone on motor trips, some of us did. Our lead guitar player, Terry Clements, used to take road trips. And a couple of them did Route 66 a couple of times.

I had a chance to do one by bus one time, but I didn’t have time to do it. The bus driver asked me if I wanted to, if he could take me on a trip across the country with my wife and a couple of my kids. I didn’t have time to do it.

it down to four minutes and fifteen seconds. And it didn’t affect the recording at all. It worked itself out well. And then I tried it on stage. My guitar player came up with that guitar part, which reminds us so much of water and wind and rain and hail, and everything that you want to think of. Rain and hail on a tattered sail. The old sea chanty thing crept into it.

I heard it on the radio one night; I was sitting at the bar of a place in San Francisco, and it worked out fine! I hadn’t heard it until it was on the radio. The song made it into the top twenty.

Were you surprised that a story about a shipwreck on the Great Lakes received such widespread, mainstream acclaim?

It was played all over, everywhere, and it made it up to number one on the charts. Knowing that I had the song in proper chronological order was important to me. I could talk about it with people — all kinds of relatives [connected to the disaster], younger people and older people, and I got to know some of them really well. It boiled down to a ladies’ committee in Madison, Wisconsin, that I stayed in touch with.

One of them, Ruth Hudson, had a 23-year-old son, Bruce Hudson, on the boat. I remember she told me that he had a brand-new Dodge Challenger, and it sat in the parking lot out there in Superior, for five months, through the whole winter, before anyone came and took it away.

You wrote The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald after reading about the disaster in Newsweek. The song has a lot of verses in it. Were you concerned that it may be too long for airplay on the radio?

That is very sad.

I wasn’t thinking about that at all. I mean, it was a folk song for an album. The whole thing is chronologically correct.

The whole thing, start to finish. I called the record company to find out if there was some way that they could shorten the song to get it on the top twenty stations in LA. I said, “Shorten the instrumentals.” So, I got them to shorten all the instrumentals by eight bars, right in the middle, and it brought

It’s a song about infidelity. I was in a relationship where I didn’t trust the other person. I suspected infidelity. I didn’t trust her.

When I wrote it, she was in town with all her girlfriends hitting the bars. She got me to move out to the country. She said that living in my apartment was like living in a bird cage. So, we moved out there. I rented a farmhouse. I started writing out there, and it was working, the sun would set, every night we

Sundown is probably your biggest hit in America. It has a very interesting premise. What inspired the song?

ROUTE Magazine 45

Bob Dylan once said that your music greatly impacted him.

He said listening to a Gordon Lightfoot song, you kind of wish it would never end.

He was being kind. I was always inspired by him, because he was so damn prolific, and everything was different, and he liked to do stuff that had a beat. He liked to sing with soul.

Bob Dylan had soul. I could recognize that in him from the very first time I ever met him, in Woodstock in about 1962, 1964. He was a hell of a good guitar player, and a good piano player. He became my mentor. I got to know him. We got to hang out together.

What was he like back then?

He was very, very prolific, and he was always working. Working at it. He had an old Underwood typewriter that he used to have in his room up at Woodstock, at his place. He used to type out poetry on his typewriter, and he said, “Didn’t you take this in high school?” I said, “I guess, I could have, but instead, you know what I took? Latin. I took Latin.” He laughed.

You spent a lot of time on the road. You must have some interesting stories! would have this gorgeous sunset. We moved back into town a year and a half later, and that’s when the breakup with that one occurred. Then I moved into Rosedale. Shortly after I did that, I went to Australia and did a tour.

I was writing a whole bank of tunes for the Sundown album. Lenny Waronker, a producer and former Warner Bros.

Records president, and all of us at the studio realized when we laid it down that it would be the single. There’s nothing like unrequited love with a touch of infidelity to capture people’s imaginations. In the whole time I’ve been recording, I’ve never had the sense that a song was going to click the way it did with this one.

What about Early Morning Rain?

I was babysitting my oldest boy — who’s now 56 years old — Fred, great kid, he’s got two kids, and a nice wife. I was babysitting him, and he was just old enough to be sleeping in his cradle. About one and a half years old. We were living in a basement apartment, the first wife and the two kids. After I came back from Britain, Brita, that was her name, she was a Swede, was out getting groceries, so I was babysitting.

I said, “Well, if he’s gonna sleep, I guess I’m gonna write.”

I was always writing.

Did Peter, Paul, and Mary sing it in the way that you envisioned?

Not at all, but it was a wonderful arrangement. They were really great, that was a great trio. Albert also managed them, of course. They had a different arrangement. They changed the chord progression. I loved it. I loved what they did with it.

I have never found a miniscule amount of fault with anything that anybody has ever done on any of my songs.

Do you have any favorite renditions of your songs?

Barbra Streisand, If You Could Read My Mind. Beautiful recording.

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I remember when I was playing in Detroit; the club owners, they had me staying in a condemned house, with a whole bunch of ex-criminals. These guys would test their .45 automatics down in the basement. You could hear the shots coming right up through the whole house.

One night, one of them came in with a bullwhip. I had just gotten back from playing a [gig] and was lying down to go to sleep. I wasn’t going anywhere and I sure as hell wasn’t going to a party. But the door opened, and he snaked the bullwhip out, and said, “You’re gonna come down and play us a couple of tunes, Lightfoot.” So, I immediately got up, put on my jeans, while he stood over me with the whip, and went down and I played them a couple of tunes. I can remember both the tunes I played for them. That’s how badly they had me scared!

I played Steel Rail Blues and For Loving Me. (Laughs.)

You’re 83 now, but you’re still kicking it on stage. How do you manage it all?

I eat well, I get well fed. Fortunately, my third wife makes sure I get fed. And good rest, and I walk. I had to give up the gym. I started going to the gym just before I quit alcohol, around 1980. I was an alcoholic. I was able to stop drinking in 1982. Now I walk. I seriously walk. I’m an all-weather walker. I do it every day. The first thing I do as soon as I get out of bed is get a cup of coffee, and then go and take a walk.

I gave up smoking two and a half years ago. It’s why I have emphysema. The voice always looks after itself. I never practice the vocal. I just practice the guitar. I walk out onto the stage, and I open up. I’m just lucky, I guess.

You’ve had a prolific career; you’ve played with so many talented people, and your music has impacted so many lives. What do you want to be remembered for?

I would like to be remembered as a guy who looked after his kids and his ex-wives. That’s how I’d like to be remembered.

As far as the music goes, it can look after itself.

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REIN

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NVENTED

By Holly Riddle Photographs by Efren Lopez/Route66Images

ROUTE Magazine 49

T

he charming Ozark sandstone cottages of the Rockwood Motor Court might catch the eye of travelers making their way through Springfield, Missouri, on old Route 66. Their curiosity piqued, they might spot motorcycles or vintage cars in the parking lot, or the 1950s-reminiscent colorful red patio furniture out front, or a group of happy guests on the light-strung patio. But what they won’t see are the many owners that have claimed this iconic property, the rough road that it endured to make it to the 21st Century, or the passionate owner behind its current revitalization.

Open Arms Even before Route 66 came to town in 1929, Springfield was a bustling hub of transportation. An industrialized railroad town, the county seat, and the half-way point between St. Louis and Tulsa, Springfield was a busy city in the first half of the 20th Century. Speak with many Springfield natives and you’ll quickly realize that they’re still pretty proud of the city’s status as the birthplace of Route 66, regardless of the fact that the route didn’t necessarily revolutionize or save the city from economic woes. But when travelers on Route 66 first made their way through town, Springfield was ready to welcome them with open arms (something that still hasn’t changed today). As such, the town was home to its fair share of motor courts. “[Motor courts] were one-stop shops. They had a place to eat. You could get gas there. Everything was available, so when travelers stopped overnight, they could get everything they needed in one spot,” said John Sellars, Executive Director of Springfield’s History Museum on the Square.

“There were a significant number of them through this area, on Route 66… and the Rockwood is a prime example of that type of motel.”

A Long Way to Go When Route 66 was commissioned in 1926, Deverne Ruckman saw an opportunity on the new highway. He built a gas station, his family home, and a motor court, with its series of private cottages for guests, all in one spot. The business was a true motor court of the era and one of the first in Springfield, with single-car garages attached to each room and wood lap siding that gave the cottages a rustic, homey feel. However, unlike many Route 66-inspired entrepreneurs, Ruckman did not see immediate nor resounding success for his efforts. What is now the Rockwood Motor Court would be bought and sold over and over again throughout its earliest days.

Built in 1929, the Rockwood had new ownership on a nearyearly basis, for about the next decade — in 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, and 1939. In 1940, the property 50 ROUTE Magazine

changed hands once more, as well as names, when it was purchased by Carl P. Klein and became known as the Carl P. Klein Tourist Camp. In 1941, it became O.K. Cabins, a name that lasted through 1946. Then, the property became the White Haven Motor Court, and in 1948, it finally became the Rockwood Motor Court and Lee’s Drive-in Cafe.

Bud and Queenie Koch owned the property for the longest stretch of its history, from the 1950s through the 1970s. However, as Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985, traveler traffic dried up, and motor courts in general — not just the Rockwood — spiraled into decay, quietly being used for weekly and then monthly tenants.

“After Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985, people didn’t drive by [the motel],” says David Eslick, a Route 66 Association of Missouri board member who currently lives in Springfield.

“They didn’t really think about staying in a little motel. If you were to interview 50 people that started traveling I-44, Route 66 wasn’t on their minds. You know, Route 66, it didn’t die, but it was in the nursing home.”

In the 1980s, though, the Rockwood looked quite different from the Rockwood of its heyday. The property’s original wood lap siding was covered in the 1940s with the sandstone rock that guests still see today. The previous Shell filling station was transformed into the restaurant space in the 1940s as well. The cottages’ attached garages were converted into rooms during the Kochs’ tenure, further pushing the property toward its current appearance. The restaurant became known as Ginny Lee’s, named after one of the later owners and operated by Ginny Lee’s daughter, Willa Naugle, after her retirement. In the mid-1990s, lightning struck and set fire to the restaurant’s second floor and attic, requiring a rebuild.

At the Rockwood, Ginny Lee’s was in operation for over a decade, before the restaurant adopted a new name in 2009, the Route 66 Cafe, under the new ownership of Doug Anderson, who advertised the eatery as having the best biscuits and gravy west of the Mississippi. In more recent history, Jason Russell leased the space from Anderson and turned the restaurant into Tubby’s Diner, which remained in business for about five or six years, until, according to the next owner, Russell “just walked away and locked the doors” in 2017.

Finally, Some Direction The property sat empty until Springfield resident Dannie Wright drove by the property, spotted her friend Anderson outside, and decided to stop by.

“I love the property. It’s so cute with the little cottages in the back. So one day, when I was passing by, [Anderson] was

Phyllis Ferguson relaxing at her Rockwood Court.

there boarding up a window, so I stopped. I got out and was telling him, ‘I love this place.’ It was terrible. It was so run down. The last person there had really trashed it. He said, ‘Well, I’ll sell it to you. You wanna buy it?’ I just kind of laughed at him.”

But in 2018, that’s exactly what Wright did. After several months of discussions, an agreement was reached, and Wright purchased the property and opened Bigfoot Subs in the property’s restaurant space. She completed what she calls a “massive, massive” amount of work to the space, restoring the Rockwood to a semblance of its former glory. Still, the cottages weren’t yet returned to their roles as overnight lodging, with month-to-month tenants still in place.

Then, Wright met Phyllis Ferguson.

“She loved the property and wanted to support us. She helped me a lot, because her family has been in the restaurant business for a long time. We became good friends and, once she saw everything we had done to clean the place up, she was interested in the [property]. She started leasing the cottages from me, because I couldn’t afford to do anything with them and they needed a lot of work,” said Wright.

At the time, Ferguson was, and still is, the chief operating officer for Mexican Villa Food Products and a chain of Mexican restaurants in Springfield. No stranger to the

hospitality business, her family’s brand includes six locations in Springfield, one in the Ozarks, and a factory. She’s lived in Springfield since 1974 and traveled Route 66 in her infancy, when her parents would drive from St. Louis to visit family along the highway.

Involved in local politics as a councilwoman and mayor pro tem, Ferguson would often stop by the Rockwood property to see how Wright was doing and how she could help. To her, it was no big deal. She was simply, as she puts it, “looking out for her zone.” When she first stopped by Wright’s Bigfoot Subs restaurant, she noticed that the motor court itself was in poor condition, with what she calls “a fairly rough crowd” inhabiting the cottages.

“I decided that [the motor court] was going to go one direction or the other, and if I could help, it was going to go in the right direction,” said Ferguson.

And so, in the summer of 2019, Ferguson started the renovations, leasing the property from Wright with an option to buy.

“We put new roofs on all of the cottages — new doors, new windows, HVAC, new flooring. We kept as much of the original bathrooms as we could. It was pretty major, with all new electrical, new water lines to half of the cottages,” said Ferguson. “The Rockwood has continuously been open ROUTE Magazine 51

Phyllis Ferguson with husband Tim Phillips.

and operated, and then we closed it briefly for seven months while we did this major restoration.”

But Ferguson only worked on the property for about ten months before purchasing the Rockwood from Wright. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, restaurants all over Springfield suffered a tremendous blow — Bigfoot Subs among them — so Wright decided to semi-retire, a decision that she admits was best for the Rockwood in the long run. “[Ferguson] has done an incredible job with it. She had deeper pockets than me, for sure. Everything that I did, we did it on a shoestring,” Wright explained. “It was a ton of work and a lot of sweat equity and help, but she was able to step in and take care of the larger issues that needed much deeper pockets than mine, so I’m really proud and glad that she has it.”

While the pandemic meant a somewhat fortuitous departure for Wright, it also allowed Ferguson the time she needed to finish guest rooms and, as she puts it, “get her sea legs,” so that when the Rockwood fully reopened as travel likewise opened up, she and the Rockwood both were in a better position to welcome guests.

The Future Looks Bright Once upon a time mom-and-pop motels dominated Route 66, with large and small venues and gimmicks of all kinds to pull people off the road. However, their numbers slowly diminished over time. This reality was part of the reason why Ferguson feels such a passion for the Rockwood’s future.

“The motor court had a lot of potential. You just had to look at it, to know what it had looked like and then to realize what it could look like with time, work, money and commitment,” she said.

It’s a sentiment that Wright shares. “I had the vision of what it could be if somebody just cared about it — and it’s 52 ROUTE Magazine

such a unique property. It just screams history. Just looking at it throws you back to a time that was different. There’s not many of them left and I felt really good about trying to salvage it.”

But it wasn’t just Route 66 that was filled with motor courts. On a smaller scale, it was the rest of the City of Springfield, too, that was jam-packed with tourist courts. According to David Eslick, in 1930, there were 19 motor courts in Springfield. By 1950, there were 29, and in 1962, there were 42.

Today, most have been sadly lost to time. John Sellars estimated that there are fewer than 20 or 25 of these historic properties left today, and only a few of them are geared to attract discerning travelers.

Some of those that remain have been fortunate enough to land in the hands of valiant stewards, such as Ferguson, but others haven’t been quite so lucky.

Some, despite good guardianship, were simply misfortunate enough to exist in neighborhoods that experienced economic downturns that dragged the motor courts down with them.

Finding “Something Authentic” at the Rockwood Today, the Rockwood is an homage to the golden age of the automobile and to tourist cabins of a bygone era.

Each room boasts a different theme hearkening back to Route 66’s heyday.

Ferguson took the original filling station footprint back to its 420 square feet, turning it into a small, bookable studio space with a queen bed, two twin beds, a living room area, a kitchenette, and a full bath. It has a Shell gas station theme with a red-and-yellow color palette. It is one of her most popular rooms.

The hotelier life seems to fit Ferguson well and she has found a passion for hospitality.

“That’s the best part of a motor court, the guests that you have. They come out, they talk. It doesn’t make any difference how diverse they are in terms of geography or their age or any demographic,” Ferguson explains. “It seems like, on that patio, they’re just people having a good time and relaxing at the Rockwood, and I love that. The doors are wide open. People are traveling. We’ve been busy, busy, busy.

We’re happy.”

A busy vintage motor court, a happy host, and contented guests enjoying themselves — it’s the perfect picture.

Although that was likely the intention of every motor court owner back in the earlier days of motoring across the country, decades of decline spelled doom for many courts and left the rest in a sad state of affairs. This motor court is one of the lucky ones — rescued and revived by the passion of its new owner. Its Ozark charm and spanking new shine will catch your eye, too.

DEVILS ELBOW, MO

Today 10:18 AM

“Taking off now.

Have some stops to make!”

CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULE. GET TO PULASKI COUNTY, MO! Ready for a road trip of breathtaking twists and turns that will take you back in time? Take your pick of drives down Route 66, through historic Fort Leonard Wood, and along the Frisco Railroad line. Then fill up at unique (and oh-sotasty) diners before heading off to uncover even more rare finds at countless antique shops. So, book your stay and get ready to play on a road that you’ll always remember.

Plan your trip, complete with downloadable turn-by-turn directions, at pulaskicountyusa.com.

ROUTE Magazine 53

N

ot far from the Santa Monica terminus of Route 66 in trendy West Hollywood, California, sits a little 1920s diner that has captured the imaginations of millions for close to a century. Tucked across the street from what was originally the Samuel Goldwyn Films studio, and only ten minutes from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Formosa Cafe has seen multitudes of people come through its doors. When it opened in 1925 as the Red Post Café, the Formosa Cafe was little more than a modest eatery run by ex-prize-fighter Jimmy Bernstein. But in 1945, when he hired a new head chef named Lem Quon, business began to change. Bernstein gave Quon free reign of the décor and menu, changed the name to the Formosa Cafe, and birthed what was to become one of the most famous restaurants in Los Angeles.

Throughout its storied history, celebrities like Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, and Frank Sinatra frequented the place.

Even famed gangster Bugsy Seigel had his own booth. The café reached its height in the ‘50s, and later in the ‘70s and ‘80s became a go-to spot for rock stars and a younger celebrity crowd — think Johnny Depp and Christian Slater. But fame isn’t everything, and even the most popular places can nearly disappear.

“Hollywood is one of those places that is always looking towards the new,” said Bobby Green, one of the co-owners of the Formosa.

“So many celebrities had memories of being there, but that wasn’t enough to keep it going. The things that made the Formosa special were slowly disappearing.”

Going into the 1990s, Warner Bros., who had bought the nearby film studio in the ‘80s, tried to buy out the property and turn it into a parking lot. Thanks to protestors and even a message from U2’s Bono, the café was saved for another few years. But Quon, now the sole owner, died only two years later, and it quickly began to decline. For years, Quon’s grandson, Vince Jung, struggled to keep the original charm of the place, but was unable to without serious help.

That help came in the form of the 1933 Group, a design firm that owns many of LA’s most famous and historic bars with the purpose of recreating early American aesthetics through design and cocktails. The Group now owns the bar,

54 ROUTE Magazine

and Bobby Green was the lead designer for the $2.5 million renovation that recreated and modernized the vibe of the original 1950s Formosa.

“For me personally, it was hugely important to continue the original legacy of the restaurant, because it harkened back to my own memories of the place,” said Green. “The Formosa’s one of those places that ends up being a huge multi-generational fan club of people who remember it. You can bridge the gap between young and old because people come from all over the world to feel some connection with the movies that they know and grew up with, and those places are so few and far between these days.”

After two years, the Formosa Cafe reopened its doors in 2018. The interior is strikingly red, with wallpaper designed

by Green himself that incorporates and combines designs that have been used in the café for decades. The floor is elegantly tiled with the same terrazzo found on Hollywood Boulevard and the Walk of Fame, accompanied by beautiful brass trim inlays in unique Chinese knot designs. The booths, vintage to the café, have been restored, and famous celebrity headshots once again line the walls.

“The Formosa is this treasure of a lot of Angelenos, and they really take this sense of ownership of the places they hang out, especially those that represent old Hollywood. LA was shaped by Hollywood and vice versa, but we’re not very good at preserving old Hollywood. We’re constantly looking towards the future and making things new, so the Formosa sort of became a mini museum to the city’s history, because there just wasn’t anything of the sort until recently.”

The effort that Green and his team put into restoring the café seems to have been a success. It has the charm of the original café, but the sophistication that is part of many of the 1933 Group’s businesses. A modernized menu incorporates original recipes with a twist and continues to draw patrons from all over the world, and from all walks of life. However, the Formosa truly stands as a reminder of the faded world of old Hollywood, and how one visionary took his dreams and brought them to center stage.

Image courtesy 1933 Group.

T H E FOR MOSA C A F E

E X PLOR E GR A N TS! On the longest drivable stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico!

There is plenty for everyone to see and do in Grants, NM. Cruise, Camp, Hike, Sightsee, Stargaze, Eat, Enjoy, Shop and Stay a while. Experiences here are authentic, from our diverse cultures and distinctive landscapes found nowhere else, to the people who are warmhearted and sincere.

www.cityofgrants.net • 505.287.4802 @ExploreGrants

I

n the middle of the Mojave Desert, thousands of commercial jets sit still and silent in the shifting sand.

Many have wings torn from their sides and silver exteriors peeled away. This ghostly fleet is embalmed and half-disemboweled. For many Boeing 747s and fourengine cruisers, the stretch of desert on the edge of the Mojave Air and Space Port serves as a final resting ground.

Newer aircrafts use the boneyard as a stopover. These giants, which will eventually return to the skies, appear to be paused in mid-motion.

Aviation journalist Nicholas A. Veronico has been fascinated by the life cycle of airplanes since he was a child.

In 1970, Nicholas’ father brought him and his brother to the California 1000 Unlimited Air Race. They waited in line for hot dogs and watched the P-51 Mustangs sailing between pit stops. As jets soared past, Nicholas found himself transfixed by the scrapped airliners gleaming motionless at the center of this flurry of wings.

“It was so weird to see airplanes going by at 400 miles an hour while there were airplanes with their engines removed, some sitting on the ground, that were once airliners,” Nicholas said.

The eerie sight inspired Nicholas to seek out aircraft wrecks. Today, he is the author of dozens of books on aviation and regularly visits the Mojave and other boneyards around the country. He often buys scrap.

His most recent finds at the Mojave are some airliner seats and a drink cart that now holds barbecuing supplies.

Nicholas is part of a group of admirers and collectors for whom the storage area holds a powerful fascination.

“There’s this huge cadre of people that collect airliner cockpits or airliner interiors,” Nicholas said. “They’re always out there prowling to see what can be bought or sold.”

Sometimes, Nicholas sells scrap to museums and helps make plane restorations as original as possible. Others have a second life on the silver screen. Doug Scroggins of Scroggins Aviation, Mock-Ups, and Special Effects buys and stores scrapped planes at the Mojave. One of his airliners was used in the 2016 film Sully with a dunk tank and green screen.

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The older planes might have their aluminum stripped and poured back into American manufacturing. The parts are used to make cars, refrigerators, and beer cans.

Between uses, the silvered carcasses of airliners are preserved like Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi. Engines are removed and carefully stored. Fluids like gasoline are drained from the body of the plane. Inert gas is pumped into its tanks to expel lingering fuel vapors. The windows are sealed shut like so many blinkered eyes. If the entrances are not covered with tight, reflective material, birds will find their way into the bones of the airplane and nest.

A curtain of shimmering heat from the desert sun offers the lifeless aircraft another layer of protection.

The dormant jets are parked in the shadow of the next chapter in commercial flight. Just beyond the boneyard, experimental spacecraft race across the open sky. Since the 1990s, the remote, arid conditions of the Mojave Desert have made the Air and Space Port a hub for aerospace engineering.

Scientists Paul Allen and Burt Rutan designed AirSpaceOne, an air-launched rocket, and the aircraft White Knight that carried it, on these grounds. Virgin Galactic has made major inroads toward commercial space travel here.

It might not be long before families circle the Earth’s orbit like they boarded planes, dressed to the nines and eagerly peering out the windows, in the 1930s and ‘40s.

The sea of shining planes, rising out of the desert like a mirage, has a spellbinding effect on visitors. Looking out on the shells of Boeings, Lockheeds, and Airbuses, the viewer might feel like an explorer stumbling on an ancient wreck.

The haunting stillness of silver bodies baking in the sun is a reminder that airplanes have life cycles. They are created at a specific moment, their purpose shifts over time, and, eventually, they reach obsolescence. Aircraft are retired and find new life through human ingenuity. Visitors exploring the Air and Space Port and adjoining boneyard enter into a space between the past and future. They will find the earthbound aircraft possess a beauty that is uniquely unearthly.

Image courtesy of Troy Paiva.

A G R AV E Y A R D I N THE DESERT

The route 66 destination where all cars are cool!

Hosting the Kingman 66 Fest

October 14-15, 2022

EXPLOREKINGMAN.COM 1.866.427.7866 ROUTE Magazine 57

AMERICA’S �ST

By Cheryl Eichar Jett 58 ROUTE Magazine

Photographs by David J. Schwartz - Pics On Route 66

DRIVE-THRU ROUTE Magazine 59

I

t’s been described as a “caboose without the wheels” and as “tugboat-looking” — both true enough.

One could even say that the Springfield Maid-Rite building resembles a California Airplane Bungalow — a 1920s Arts and Crafts style — with its airy cupola perched atop the roof.

There’s been equal confusion about what year it opened — likely 1924 — and whether or not it was ever part of the Iowa-based Maid-Rite chain — it wasn’t. But there’s one point that no one disagrees on — that the tasty, loose-meat sandwich known as a “Maid-Rite” (along with its equally tasty alter ego, the “Cheez-Rite”) is one of the Illinois capital city’s legendary culinary specialties.

Believed to be the oldest continuously operating sandwich shop in Springfield and described as the first drive-through restaurant (it was a walk-up first, from horse or car) in the U.S., the Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop has been owned over the years by a string of operators. But luckily, for the past quarter of a century, it’s been owned by Sam Quaisi — a man that understands what this unique diner means to the Springfield community. For decades, Springfield High School students and State of Illinois employees, among many others, have claimed the Maid-Rite as one of their favorite lunch spots. For them, and for anyone else that remembers a time when this iconic place was an important part of their life, it brings a little wave of nostalgia when they return to the neighborhood, sign the guestbook, and order up a Maid-Rite and a root beer.

“My dad, my brother, and I would go to Maid-Rite almost every Saturday, going back 40 years when Clarence Donley owned it,” said Scott Dahl, Director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. “I looked forward to it, I couldn’t wait to get there every Saturday. So, for me this story hits home.”

Maid-Rite in Springfield Back in 1924, according to the Maid-Rite’s second owner (more about him in a minute), a man named Arthur Knippenberg established a sandwich shop at 118 N. Pasfield.

(The National Register of Historic Places states that the building was built in 1926.) With an initial investment of $2,000, Knippenberg was looking to start a venture for his children to run. The actual builder of the wooden caboose structure with its rows of narrow double-hung windows on the north and south sides is unknown. But what is known is that the picturesque cupola served as an “air conditioner.”

Sections of the wood ceiling in the main floor were hinged so they could be lowered to allow air flowing in through the cupola windows to circulate through the shop.

But business wasn’t as good as Knippenberg had hoped for, and rather than sink any more money into it, a few months later, he simply gave the business to an old friend, Clyde Holbrook. Holbrook had operated a confectionery in Beardstown — an Illinois river town about 50 miles away 60 ROUTE Magazine

— before river floods washed him out of business for the fourth time.

Upon Knippenberg’s generous gift, Holbrook and his wife, Nettie, moved to Springfield to operate the little sandwich stand at the corner of Pasfield and Jefferson. But at first, the shop apparently didn’t seem like much of an improvement over the flooded sweet shop.

Interviewed in 1971 at the age of 87 by a Springfield newspaper reporter, Holbrook was quoted as saying, “I sat in the shop 14 hours once, and at the end of the day I had $1.45. I couldn’t even pay for my room most of the time.” But Holbrook stuck it out for the next two decades.

Meanwhile, in 1926, the Maid-Rite restaurant chain got its start in Muscatine, Iowa, via a butcher named Fred Angell who added spices to “loose meat” and created a special ground-beef creation called a “Maid-Rite’’ sandwich. The common speculation is that when the Springfield sandwich shop opened, it was called something else — no one seems to know what — and that Holbrook adopted the Maid-Rite name for his own business after the Iowa chain became known. An alternative theory is that the earlier date of 1924 was claimed to avoid a dispute over a trade name. Anyway, business must have improved, because in 1930, Holbrook extended the building 12 feet to the east for more storage and workspace, matching the extension to the original construction.

Fifty More Years, Four More Operators The Holbrooks operated the place for about 20 years before selling it for $22,500 in 1946 to a man named Cecil Evey, who lived next door. Evey operated the stand for a dozen years before he leased it to Ruby Pritchett, who ran it for about ten years, from 1958 to 1968, before another lessee, Leona Denton, took it over.

In 1970, Clarence Donley, a former Ford Motor Company employee from Detroit, Michigan, purchased the shop from Evey and devoted his efforts to building the business. In the mid ‘80s, Donley built on another dining room, which could seat 40, in addition to the original three-stool counter and tiny dining room which could seat about a dozen customers.

Outside, he added picnic tables, and inside, he added the “Cheez-Rite” to the menu. The shop was finally added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

In an odd twist of events, in 1993, GLS Investments, owners of the Maid-Rite chain at the time, tried to open a restaurant

Owner-operator Sam Quaisi in the kitchen under the historic menu board.

on the west side of Springfield. But Donley successfully filed suit to stop the attempt.

However, after a successful 25-year run, Donley was ready to retire and sell the Maid-Rite. He would just have to find the right buyer to carry on its legacy. Little did he know that his soon-to-be successor was about to walk across the street and into the eatery.

Taking it to 100 The independent Maid-Rite location already had 70 years or so under its proverbial belt when Sam Quaisi, an Illinois Department of Revenue employee who worked in a state building literally right across the street, showed up. Although Quaisi had worked in the food business, including a stint in the kitchen at the Illinois Governor’s Mansion, he hadn’t yet owned an eatery of his own. “I [was] always helping people, I worked at Illini Country Club, at Sangamo Club, at Maldaner’s, and I like serving people. The food business is an

art when you care for how it looks — if it looks nice on your plate. And I like to eat also!” said Quaisi.

Now, he had the opportunity to buy the sandwich shop that was just steps from where he’d been working in an office, which he felt was an unhealthy lifestyle. “You’re sitting, you’re doing the same thing every day. I think people were just an eating machine when they were in the office, with junk food and cola. Maybe one out of ten was overweight and I was not going to be one of those persons. I like the food business.

I came over and talked to Donley, and he was willing to sell.

Everything went smooth. He wanted to get out of it, so it was at the right time. We talked, we shook hands. I don’t turn anything down — I’m always going forward.”

On October 24, 1995, a certificate of ownership of business was filed in Sangamon County, showing that Sam and his wife Huda Quaisi were the proud new owners of the MaidRite Sandwich Shop. It wasn’t long before Quaisi became a familiar, smiling face in downtown Springfield. Now, 27 years later, he finds himself one of eight locals that the Springfield ROUTE Magazine 61

to “great memories,” “4th generation [customer],” and “5th generation [customer].”

Another comment states, “My grandmother ‘Queenie’ came here on horseback with her father in the 1910s,” signed by a customer named John Macklin (the “4th generation” customer). The debate about when the place opened never ends!

“That’s another reason I like going there, to see Sam standing there, always with a smile on his face and always greets me by name when I go there.

I’m sure he does that for most of his customers — his attention on that The sandwich shop is situated on the corner of Jefferson and Pasfield Streets. point is really, really cool,” said Dahl. “I love Convention and Visitors Bureau touts as Living Legends — going in and sitting in that original part. To me it brings entrepreneurs of iconic attractions and eateries with their own back memories and just takes me back to a time when souvenir Explorer Passport. things were much simpler.”

“I get here at 7:30 every day. I do the meat every day, make sure I have enough root beer for a day, and make sure Into the Future everything is ready before the first tourists come,” Quaisi The mix of customers in the little white-with-red-trim eatery explained. “The menu is still the same, the only thing we hasn’t changed much over the years — plenty of locals, former changed is we added the horseshoe. You know Springfield is a residents, Illinois State Fair goers and Route 66 travelers, horseshoe [sandwich] town.” but this year there’s the addition of the international tourists Once in a while, something unusual breaks up the day-toreturning. Quaisi still sees his regulars come in two or three day routine. In 2002, there occurred another brush with the times a week and calls them by name.

Maid-Rite company. The Maid-Rite chain had been bought by The menu board stays the same as does the root beer Bradley Burt of Des Moines, Iowa, and Burt assumed that the formula: a syrup made with spices and herbs, vanilla, sugar, Springfield Maid-Rite was part of the deal and sent his press water, sometimes with a scoop of ice cream if requested for release to the State Journal-Register. Staff writer Dave Bakke a root beer float. The loose meat is prepared each morning quipped, “But there was one problem. Our Maid-Rite isn’t — using the same recipe since the place opened in the ‘20s their Maid-Rite.” Burt and his newly acquired chain stood — and served on a steamed bun with mustard, pickle relish, corrected after contact with Quaisi, and life went on as usual and onion. For a quarter a song, a jukebox spins out favorite at the Springfield eatery. tunes from the past including the music of the Coasters, There, visitors are always a big deal and highly appreciated Shangri-Las, Beach Boys, and Elvis Presley. With any luck at — especially this year, after some relative quietude in 2020 all, it will all stay the same for the foreseeable future. and 2021. Visitors find that besides his native tongue of “The Maid-Rite provides that authentic experience that Arabic, and English, Quaisi also speaks Spanish and a little Route 66 travelers are looking for. I go there and step back Greek. “I love our visitors, but most visitors are from Europe in time 40 years and it hasn’t changed much. It’s still that old and they don’t [always] speak much English, although some train caboose from 1924, and even though they added on the of them do. We explain to them as much as we can, how long dining area in the ‘80s, you still get that feel from the 1920s,” we’ve been here. Even our customers, if someone speaks their said Dahl. “It’s hard to replace that, and I think that’s the language, they communicate for us,” said Quaisi. authentic side of 66 that travelers are looking for.”

Quaisi keeps two guest registers — one for first-time locals Authentic, indeed. Quaisi served more than 600 sandwiches and one for his out-of-town visitors. “We have them sign on the restaurant’s 90th official anniversary in 2014. But now it, and we also give them a souvenir from us, a sticker or a he has his eye on the Maid-Rite’s 100-year anniversary, which pen that says Maid-Rite — that is for people visiting. Local is coming up in 2024. There’ll be quite a bit to celebrate, as people, some come two or three times a month… I enjoy the little low-slung wood frame building will have lasted a talking to customers, I enjoy being here.” century (more or less), with its patrons lining up for their The guest registers are full of comments, ranging from loose-meat sandwiches since 1924. Or thereabouts. “great food,” “love Maid-Rite,” and “better than Iowa,” 62 ROUTE Magazine

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long Route 66 and Interstate 40 through the High Plains of the American Southwest, if lucky, travelers might still catch sight along the sometimes lonely highway of one or two remaining signs adorned with the reassuring words, “Tucumcari Tonite!” This wildly successful slogan campaign once put Tucumcari, New Mexico, on the map as “the Gateway to the West,” with many miles worth of advertisements championing the little city’s 2,000 available motel rooms. Although Tucumcari later experienced economic hardship due to the interstate bypass and the loss of commercial tourism, its rich history is encapsulated in the quirky “Tucumcari Tonite!” slogan that still welcomes weary travelers. It’s a slogan that refuses to die, as dedicated community members of Tucumcari work diligently to reinvigorate its use.

Tucumcari began its status as a national crossroads and hub for American travelers when the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad founded a construction camp there in 1901.

In the early 20th Century, the camp grew into a town, using the names Ragtown, Six Shooter Siding, and Douglas before settling on Tucumcari, which became a regional railroad center. Tucumcari then became a popular motorist stop after the original alignment of Route 66 came through in 1926.

Nicknamed Route 66 Boulevard, the Mother Road ran east-west right through the center of town, where dozens of motor services such as motels, restaurants, and gas stations sprang up to welcome travelers.

It was the plethora of neon-draped accommodations that inspired the “Tucumcari Tonite!” signs though, and it didn’t take long to gather notoriety. In the mid-20th Century, the signs began to pop up along the long miles approaching Tucumcari, with an invitation for tourists to stop, relax, and rent a room for the night. As the largest stopping point on the highway between Amarillo, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, motorists took comfort from the catchphrase with a collective sigh of relief that there would be motel rooms ready and waiting for them after a long day on the road.

“It was miles from anywhere, so back in the day when people couldn’t travel as far, Tucumcari was the most logical place to spend the night,” said Connie Loveland, director of the nonprofit organization Tucumcari Main Street. In tandem with the vintage charm of some of the town’s neon-kissed 64 ROUTE Magazine

motels themselves, such as the famed Blue Swallow Motel, and ever popular Motel Safari, the “Tucumcari Tonite!” signs themselves became a memorable attraction for highway travelers.

However, the success story of the “Tucumcari Tonite!” campaign has not always been linear.

In the 1950s, following President Eisenhower’s development of a new interstate highway system, I-40 passed through the fringes of the city limits. An original alignment of the Mother Road remained in use, still funneling some travelers through the downtown area, yet, even so, the city suffered a drastic drop in tourism, with the local population declining slowly but steadily ever since the 1950 census. Tucumcari during the second half of the 20th Century began to resemble a ghost town, a hub of decaying Route 66 cultural artifacts enduring a long economic downturn.

And yet, even amid downswings, the spirit of Tucumcari endured, partly due to the continued fascination with the fading but iconic signs leading to the town’s borders.

In 2008, members of the Tucumcari Main Street organization voted to replace the former “Gateway to the West” slogan with a revitalized promotion of the “Tucumcari Tonite!” catchphrase, in the form of four new billboards. In addition to the endorsement of colorful murals, the renovation of vintage motels, and the restoration of neon lights downtown, community supporters continue to promote Tucumcari’s endurance and long-term association with Route 66.

“Tucumcari is one of the few places that has embraced Route 66 and worked to keep the neon and to keep that traditional feel, which continues to draw people in. Local businesses have done such a good job of preserving their buildings and preserving the spirit of Route 66,” said Loveland. “I’ve always said that the communities along Route 66 are really like an extended family, and the places that have embraced that have been really successful.”

As the 2026 centennial of Route 66 approaches and the momentum breaks through the quiet of the past couple years, travelers and inhabitants alike along the Mother Road are celebrating those communities that have endured through all the ups and downs. Tucumcari is undeniably one of these gems, and “Tucumcari Tonite!” reminds us that there are still comfortable, vintage (and renovated) motel rooms a-plenty to draw us back to the picturesque little High Plains city along the Route.

Illustration by Chandler O’Leary.

A L A STI NG SLOGA N

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AMERICA’S

66 ROUTE Magazine

PLAYGROUND

By Dr. T. Lindsay Baker

ROUTE Magazine 67

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lmost as old as the automobile itself is the notion of car camping. The 1910s and 1920s saw Americans become increasingly more mobile and venturing out to explore the towns and backroads of America in greater and greater numbers. Those with limited budgets no longer simply remained home but rather sorted out alternative accommodation, opting to furnish their cars with basic camping gear and experience the fresh air of the countryside.

Whether tucked up for the night within the vehicle’s steel frame or in a tent adjacent to one’s auto, Americans took up camping out of their car as naturally as they had from a horse.

Roadside fields and small-town parks were fair game — unless a farmer took his own “no trespassing” sign seriously.

Interestingly, both in the plentiful times of the ‘20s and in the deep depression of the ‘30s, campers were a common sight along U.S. roadways.

After World War II, when steel, rubber, and gasoline were no longer rationed, the American car culture began in earnest, but many motorists still preferred to camp out rather than sleep within the confines of the newly proliferating motels. As this trend continued into the early ‘60s, Montana entrepreneur Dave “Bud” Drum witnessed it, mulled it over, and believed that he could package the experience — with more bells and whistles than most any early 20th Century roadside camper could ever have imagined.

A Man with Another Plan A born salesman, Dave Drum stuck his fingers into many entrepreneurial pies. With Purple Heart decorations as a Marine from both World War II and the Korean War, and a business degree earned in between the wars, Drum invested his time and means in a number of money-making schemes.

Among other ventures, he ranched, operated cattle feedlots, and manufactured agricultural fertilizer, but most locals in Billings knew him from his exotic pet store and its singular advertising. Emblazoned across its front read the words, “We Sell the Ugliest Monkeys in Town.”

On a wider plane, Montanans across Big Sky Country knew Drum from his term in the Montana State Legislature and other dabbling in politics. No matter how anyone knew him, for decades, everyone had a Dave Drum story, often about his fearless but smart business investments. But one of those investments had a totally different outcome than even he anticipated.

In the early 1960s, Drum invited several friends to partner with him in buying land outside of Billings that Drum suspected the federal government would purchase to develop the interstate. But the new highway went north of his land, and his friends “went south.” Always a visionary, however, Drum foresaw that motorists by the thousands would soon be crossing the nation — with some of them taking the new Interstate 90 — to attend the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. Just maybe, some would pay for a campsite — with amenities.

KOA is Born

Drum pivoted, recruited three new partners, and developed his tract of land where rural Orchard Lane dead-ended on the banks of the Yellowstone River. Next, the group convinced the city council to extend electric and sewer lines to the site.

There, in July 1962, Drum and his cohorts opened their first overnight tourist camp — the Billings Campground — just in time to tempt weary travelers headed to and from the Seattle exposition. Drum and partner John Wallace personally ran the enterprise during its first months in 1962.

“When people learn that Billings has a campground with hot showers, running water, and flush toilets, they drive a long way to get to it by night,” Drum declared at the time.

That fall, Wallace had the idea to mail paper questionnaires to their summertime The yellow KOA color scheme was used for signs, shirts, and golf carts. vacationers to find out 68 ROUTE Magazine

more about their preferences; he was astonished at the impressive return rate of approximately 50%. A big idea was in sight.

Drum envisioned creating a coastto-coast network of clean, secure, money-making campgrounds, and Wallace encouraged him to go for it.

The surveys showed that people were willing to pay $1.75 a night to stay at private campsites that guaranteed guests water, electric, and sewer hookups; clean showers and toilets; picnic tables; and a store selling basic foods and supplies.

Building a Brand

The typical A-frame KOA office and store became instantly recognizable.

Early in the new venture, Drum quickly realized the need for iconic signage and architecture. During a walk along the Yellowstone River, he conferred with Billings artist Karlo Fujiwara about designing what would become an instantly recognizable logo. Fujiwara used lines and dots to create a stylized Indian teepee above the bold KOA block-letter initials — a design that was trademarked in 1963.

“In the logo, the circle at the top represents the moon, and the stylized tent repeats elements of the ‘K’ and the ‘A’ in the initials,” explained current KOA Director of Public Relations Saskia Boogman. “Karlo was the one who suggested using ‘K’ for ‘C.’ With that spelling, we had a name that was registrable.” By intentionally misspelling these words, Drum and his associates could copyright the names of not only their business, but also its side activities, like the KOA Kamper Klub.

Originally, the logo background was white, but later on, yellow took over as the KOA color. “President Jim Rogers said, ‘We should live and breathe this color.’ He even had a yellow tuxedo that he would wear to conventions!”

Boogman added. Just like brown came to identify UPS delivery vehicles, yellow appeared on KOA shirts, on signage, and even on golf carts and pickup trucks.

Borrowing a copy of the Holiday Inn license agreement, Drum used that basic plan to sell licenses to establish KOA locations to farmers, ranchers, and others with unused land near highways. Their company advertising at the time declared, “If you have, or can lease or buy, small acreage and like to visit with travelers, you can enter this lucrative business.” The idea worked, and in 1964, a Wyoming businessman opened a Kampgrounds of America facility in Cody, the first franchised KOA. “KOA exploded onto the scene,” said Boogman. “They were an affordable way for landowners to start a campground.” Within half a decade, the pair of camps grew into the hundreds, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.

Working with architects, Drum’s team developed thenfashionable and easily fabricated A-frame buildings for combined stores and offices, with low rectangular wings on each end to house showers, toilets, and coin-operated laundries. A-frame buildings had become highly stylish during the 1960s, after one designed by architect Andrew Geller for a Long Island beach home was featured in the New York Times. Many Americans associated the innovative designs with vacation areas, and so it was an easy leap to establish

the association with KOA. Even when long abandoned or converted to other uses, these distinctive structures remain — to this day — easy to identify as former KOA official offices.

A Man’s Man In 1966, Drum, more an idea man than a manager, hired Billings Chamber of Commerce director Darrell R. Booth as executive vice-president and handed off day-to-day management to him. Booth was well-liked, smart, handsome, and loved outdoor sports — he actually preferred backpacking to amenities such as what KOA offered — and was thought of as a “man’s man.” He also brought business experience and expertise and oversaw early exponential growth in the chain through to 1971. When Drum and his partners founded Kampgrounds of America, their profits came mainly from selling franchises, but during Booth’s able direction, royalties from franchisees became the principal corporate income stream.

In 1969, the company went public. Drum cashed out in 1975, selling his shares, and left the company.

But the 1970s brought the oil shortage with consequent curtailment of traveling for pleasure as motorists worried where they could next fill their fuel tanks. “Some franchisees put in gas pumps to ensure that their customers could buy fuel. They had to do something,” explained Pat Hittmeier, 38-year veteran of Kampgrounds of America (KOA) management. Inflation was high and so were interest rates. Then the decade of the ‘70s delivered yet another blow to the company — Booth became ill with cancer in 1979 and died the following year.

A Fresh Start for KOA In November 1980, a Chinese-born American financier named Oscar Tang purchased Booth’s major stake in the company and took it over. Art Peterson, an actual camping enthusiast and decade-long KOA employee who had set up KOA’s merchandising and equipment division, was named president.

Taking KOA private, Tang avoided shareholders’ focus only on profits as a measure of success.

As KOA Kampgrounds had popped up all across the country for almost two decades, the company had struggled to balance growth with maintaining customer expectations. “We needed to provide quality assurance, which was never easy when independent franchisees owned each location,” Boogman explained.

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United States had national parks, interstate highways, and Disneylands,” said Hittmeier. “Destinations for families were the key to the growth of car camping.”

Into the 21st Century In 2000, Art Peterson retired after two decades of expanding the company’s focus, and Oscar Tang recruited Jim Rogers from his position as vice president and general manager at Harrah’s RVers flocked to KOA for electrical hook-ups and other amenities.

Casino in Reno to succeed Peterson. Rogers, from To that end, in 1981, Pat Hittmeier, a young man with a loyal Boy Scouts of America and Eagle Scout family a forestry degree and experience wholesaling out lumber, tradition, was passionate about camping and getting people was hired. “I don’t think that they did [maintain quality],” outdoors.

Hittmeier said. “You had hundreds of campgrounds built Under Rogers’ leadership, KOA concentrated on what it every year. Sales of franchises was the source of corporate knew best — the family-oriented campground — and began income. In the aftermath, there was a scouring of the system to disengage from their international projects, Canada to remove inadequate facilities and under-management. There being the exception, and from their RV storage and other were properties [franchises] that were sold that shouldn’t have offshoot businesses. Rogers, both visionary and experienced been. [But] in time, royalties became the income stream for camper himself, knew that this policy would improve the company.” KOA put Hittmeier to work shutting down relations with both their franchise holders and ultimately the sites with poor management and even poorer standards their guests. of service. Hittmeier was smart, efficient, and loyal, and When Rogers was ready to retire in 2015, Pat Hittmeier he would stay with KOA for nearly 40 years, eventually was ready to move into his place after already putting in becoming KOA’s fifth president.

34 years with KOA in various management roles. Hittmeier As badly as the ‘80s began, under Peterson’s leadership continued Rogers’ emphasis on the guest experience. But in the decade undeniably went out on a high note, with 900+ 2019, Hittmeier too retired from the campground business campgrounds — KOA’s peak. Peterson’s pet project during to have time to go hiking, boating, and fishing himself. He his 20-year tenure as CEO was the re-introduction of the handed the KOA reins to Toby O’Rourke, a KOA employee Kamping Kabin concept. “KOA always looked for the next since 2011, who became just the sixth CEO of the company thing we could do. Kamping Kabins began in the 1980s. and the first female in the top leadership role.

We used these cabins increasingly, but now Deluxe Cabins are In the three years since O’Rourke has been at the helm, growing in popularity,” Boogman explained. “It [glamping] camping has experienced a fast downturn followed by is popular because it is an approachable way to introduce a boom. Thousands of families continue to discover the families to camping, which is intimidating to many. We shared outdoor pleasures of camping. While many have are leaning into it, as are our franchisees. Some are even headed into wilderness areas on backcountry trails, even trying things like yurts and Conestoga wagons to create rich more have sought healthy distances from other travelers experiences.” inside their own RVs or by tent camping in public and This development truly encompasses luxury enjoyment private facilities. “During the second half of 2020 camping of the outdoors. Reflecting on these phenomena, Hittmeier fared very well,” Boogman said. “Fall [of 2020] was a remarked, “What’s true of human nature . . . is the more you record season, and 2021 continued the momentum.” give people, the more they want.”

Boogman wasn’t kidding. 10.1 million households were The demographic of the typical camper was beginning to reported to have camped for the first time in 2020 — five change by the 1990s as more and more vacationers could times higher than in 2019. afford RVs — or deluxe cabins, boosted by the aging Baby For decades, the roadside camping experience was Boomers generation. “The cabins gave people somewhere never looked upon as the culmination of one’s trip, but to sleep other than in a tent. It took a long time to get what began as a necessary overnight stop in a random momentum for the camping cabins. They morphed into log roadside park or field grew into a specified campsite in lodges with bathrooms,” Hittmeier explained. a campground with electric hookups. Kampgrounds of America — that yellow-labeled, intentionally-misspelled, amenity-laden campground company — proved that they Destinations weren’t just a part of the journey. The KOA isn’t always just “Travel at the time was really important in building and a stopover, but also a destination, thanks to the big ideas of sustaining the concept of car camping. Unlike in Europe, the Dave Drum — and Americans’ thirst for the road trip.

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oute 66 is home to many bridges, some abandoned, but some still functioning, their survival serving as a testament to the rich history of the original alignments of the Mother Road. Particularly historic among these structures is the Pryor Creek Bridge, which nestles into a secluded spot amid overarching trees in Chelsea, Oklahoma. This single span, 123-feet-long and 19-feet-wide steel through truss bridge, was part of the original alignment in 1926 and has stood intact for nearly a century. From its original function as a route of passage to its current status as a historical landmark, the unique history and structure of the Pryor Creek Bridge has solidified it as a beloved Route 66 landmark, open to pedestrians and tourists from all corners of the world.

The history of the Pryor Creek Bridge began in 1926, when the Oklahoma Highway Commission approved the construction of a crossing over Pryor Creek, to be completed by a father-and-son partnership in Chelsea, known as E.G. Fike & Son. The bridge quickly became an integral part of the Mother Road.

However, by the 1930s, increased traffic on U.S. 66 and developing engineering standards necessitated the construction of a new alignment of Route 66 in 1932 which bypassed the Pryor Creek Bridge and removed its status as a relied-upon mode of travel. Since then, the bridge has stood open for pedestrians and curious travelers just south of the 1932 alignment.

Despite its short-lived period of use, the crossing has been cared for by members of the Oklahoma Historical Society for decades, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. The Pryor Creek Bridge has an origin story similar to that of several other bridges across the Plains states that have since become major Route 66 landmarks. With that said, the significant preservation efforts put in on behalf of this particular bridge begs the question — what is it that makes the Pryor Creek bridge stand out?

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A possible answer to this question lies in the story behind the bridge’s design structure — specifically, the use of the modified Pratt Truss design in its construction.

First conceptualized by Thomas and Caleb Pratt in 1844, the Pratt Truss design was used heavily throughout the 19th Century. In its incorporation of both wood and iron support structures, this design enabled 19th and early 20th Century bridges to span great distances and withstand heavy loads using simple construction techniques.

Hundreds of bridges across the country were engineered using this design, up until the aftermath of World War II, at which point many of them were no longer used. The Pryor Creek Bridge stands as the only unchanged example of this modified design in Oklahoma.

“These bridges are slowly being demolished and replaced for modern vehicular traffic,” said Lynda Ozan, a Historic Preservation Officer with the Oklahoma Historical Society. “So, the fact that this one is still intact, it really is an excellent example of that rare vanishing resource found in Oklahoma.

It was part of the original alignment, early in the process, and it’s located in an area where you don’t see a lot of alterations through time, so the bridge remains intact and has that unique charm that a lot of the other resources don’t have.”

As with many other surviving attractions, the quiet endurance of the Pryor Creek Bridge continues to charm curious travelers and contribute to the powerful spirit of today’s Route 66 experience. There is something soothing and surreal, standing on the iconic bridge that once ferried so many travelers, and watching as turtles swim in the waters below and the lush forest — home to a plethora of birdlife — comes alive and showcases the serene, scenic experience that this little corner of Oklahoma’s Mother Road offers.

Image by David J. Schwartz – Pics On Route 66.

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merican roadside signage originated in the 1830s, but it surely hit its peak in the mid-20th Century, with unforgettable classics like Coca-Cola’s “Pause that Refreshes” or Coppertone’s “Fastest Tan Under the Sun.” Iconic images and necessarily terse, catchy text cemented modern products in the minds of motorists zooming by thousands of billboards advertising everything from restaurant chains to tobacco to gasoline brands. But leased billboards weren’t the only signage that offered enough real estate on its surface for a really big advertisement — the huge walls of roadside barns also became a recipe for advertising success.

The establishment of barn advertisements along 20th Century highways originated with a unique cast of characters, including brothers Aaron and Samuel Bloch, owners of the Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company, who in 1925 devised a plan to insert their catchy logo into the minds of traveling consumers. The Bloch Brothers hired crews of “barnstormers” to traverse busy roads in Syracuse, New York, looking for available barns on which to paint their advertisements.

Each crew was assigned a specific territory to search for available barns; they would travel to a town, secure a barn location, and stay a couple weeks until their business was complete. In exchange for a payment of 1 to 2 dollars per month, a free paint job, and a supply of tobacco products, farmers allowed the barnstormers to paint the road-facing sides of their barns with a Bloch Tobacco Company advertisement. Known as “Mail Pouch Barns,” they were typically hand-painted in black or red paint, with yellow and white lettering spelling the logo “Mail Pouch Tobacco.” The most memorable line, however, was the company’s catchphrase written in white just below — a subtle reminder to “Treat Yourself to the Best,” which engraved itself into the minds of thousands of Americans.

The Bloch Brothers’ high-impact campaign quickly spread from Syracuse to the rural backroads of Ohio and West Virginia, and eventually throughout the Midwest. By the mid-1960s, there were about 20,000 Mail Pouch Barns spread across 22 states.

The significance of the barns evolved from a quirky advertising campaign to a status symbol for American farmers.

“At first, the farmers were happy to get at least the free paint job, but later on, it became nostalgic to have them,” said William Simmonds, Ohio-based author of the 2004 book, Advertising Barns: Vanishing American Landmarks.

“Eventually, the farmers were hoping to have a sign painted.”

Other companies picked up on the success of the Mail Pouch Barn advertisements, and roadside barns throughout the country soon displayed ads for a variety of products.

In the 1930s, promoter Lester Dill began to use the same approach to advertise his Meramec Caverns attraction in Stanton, Missouri. Dill would offer to paint a farmer’s roadside barn “for free,” as long as they were allowed to cover one side or the roof with what came to be an instantly recognizable advertisement for Meramec Caverns throughout the Midwestern and Plains states. The gimmick was a quick hit.

Just as important as the Bloch Brothers and Lester Dill behind this phenomenon, however, is the legacy of one man who became famous for painting a record number of barn advertisements. Harley Warrick was an Ohio-based painter born in 1924 that developed a reputation for the speed and skill with which he could paint Mail Pouch Barns. Warrick

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did not use a straight edge to paint the advertisements and reportedly could complete a paint job in under six hours.

After being hired by the Bloch Brothers in 1946, Warrick is estimated to have painted or retouched almost 20,000 barns.

Those are a lot of adverts.

Warrick, the Bloch Brothers, and the other “barnstormers” involved in the Mail Pouch Barn project had found nationwide fame and success by the mid-1960s. However, disaster struck when, in 1965, Congress passed the Highway Beautification Act, which regulated and removed billboards and other advertisements from the sides of federally-funded highways.

“Anything that was within 660 feet of a federal highway was subjected to this rule”, said Simmonds. “President Johnson wanted to clean up the scenery, so a lot of the barns disappeared at that time.” Under this legislation, some farmers were forced to paint over the advertisements or abandon them completely. Soon after, in 1969, the Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company was sold to the General Cigar and Tobacco Company, bringing a swift end to their barn-painting campaign. Warrick continued to work on the project though, touching up existing barns until his retirement in 1992; but despite his efforts, many of the original barns fell into disrepair, sadly emphasizing the loss of their cultural significance.

However, the story of these advertising barns and the practice behind them did not end in the 1960s. Ten years after the original Act was passed, public demand produced an amendment which exempted the barns due to their historic and nostalgic nature. While many of them have flown under the radar since then, local efforts at preservation and a resurgence of the barn-painting practice has continued.

In Belmont, Ohio, another artist named Eric Hagan has followed in Warrick’s footsteps. Hagan has dedicated himself to continuing Warrick’s legacy. He has painted over 600 barns throughout rural Ohio and has helped in getting Warrick’s original barns designated as historic Ohio Landmarks.

Simmonds, another Ohio native, has also played his own role in preserving the cultural memory of these barns. “There used to be a barn located near me, and it got torn down one day.

Whatever the reason was, it got me wondering if I could go and find more of those barns,” said Simmonds. “So, I contacted the Mail Pouch Company, and they sent me a list, and I just went after it. My wife and I ended up putting 45,000 miles on my car, and we just had fun with it. We’d make a vacation out of it and travel the backroads, taking pictures of the barns.”

Contemporary Midwesterners like Simmonds and Eric Hagan have worked to honor the efforts of figures like Warrick and the Bloch Brothers, all in the service of preserving the memory of these barns as roadside cultural touchstones. In fact, the impact of this phenomenon is also still visible on the Mother Road, where here and there, along stretches in Illinois and Missouri, a Meramec Cavern barn still stands.

Since most of these barns have disappeared or fallen into disrepair, the survivors have become cultural landmarks, prized by contemporary travelers hoping to spot a few examples of this colorful part of their history. Even via a swift drive-by, the advertising influence and cultural significance behind these barns continues to strike modern road travelers, reminding them, via the power of advertising, to continue to “Treat Yourself To The Best.”

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PARTING SHOT

Bruce HORNSBY What is the most memorable place you’ve visited in America?

The Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be Bill Bradley of the Knicks. Who has caused you to be starstruck? Governor Gerald Baliles of VA. What characteristic do you respect the most in others? Empathy. Dislike in others? Lack of empathy.

What characteristic do you dislike in yourself? Occasional solipsism. Who would you want to play you in a film based on your life? Judge Reinhold. Talent that you WISH you had?

Dancing. Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Be a tough self-critic. Best part about getting older? Learning from mistakes. What would the title of your memoir be? Slow learner.

First music concert ever attended? Peter, Paul and Mary at William and Mary Football Stadium. What is your greatest extravagance? My house is too big.

What is the weirdest roadside attraction you’ve ever seen? The Coffee Pot House outside Lexington, VA. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Cognition and Retention.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Still having a creative career 36 years later. Most memorable gift you were ever given? The gift of relative pitch. What is the secret to a happy life? Being able to do what one loves most, for a living.

What breaks your heart? Poverty and narrow-mindedness. What is the last TV show you binge watched?

Ozark. What is your favorite song 80 ROUTE Magazine

(of your own)? Maybe “Cyclone.” What is your favorite song from someone else? “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan.

What is still on your bucket list? Playing all of the modern classical pieces I work on, well. What do you wish you knew more about? Physics. What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives? Try stand-up comedy.

What fad or trend do you hope comes back? Disco. Strangest experiences while on a road trip? At two in the morning on Interstate 85 in the top of North Carolina, seeing a seven-foot tall man in a loincloth dancing in the middle of the road in freezing weather. My brother Jon saw him too. What movie title best describes your life? Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House. Funniest celebrity you know?

Ariel Rechstaid. Ghost town or big city person? Ghost town. Lake or ocean person?

Lake. What does a perfect day look like to you? Hanging with family. What would your spirit animal be? A Nutria. Which historical figure — alive or dead — would you most like to meet? Don Delillo. What meal can you not live without? Ballpark sushi. Bizarre talent that you have that most people don’t know about? Splitting my fingers into pairs, back and forth. What surprises you most about people? Their capacity for idiocy. What makes you laugh? Larry David. What do you think is the most important life lesson for somebody to learn? Be kind. What is one thing you have always wanted to try, but have been too afraid to? Yahtzee. What do you want to be remembered for? Having made some things that were worthwhile.

Illustration: Jennifer Mallon.

When driving past all the roadside towns, attractions, and curiosities that the Mother Road has to offer, it is essential to also have the perfect road trip playlist to accompany a journey. Whether its classic rock, country, or quintessential Americana tunes, the perfect driving song can help to enhance the Route 66 experience for any traveler. There are some musicians that seem to embody this spirit perfectly, with an arsenal of songs behind their belt that would make perfect additions to a Route 66 playlist. One of these artists is none other than American singer-songwriter Bruce Hornsby, who has created countless anthems both individually and collaboratively throughout his forty-year career. Following a longer conversation with Brennen Matthews, learn more about Hornsby’s likes, dislikes, and pieces of life advice in this parting shot interview.

With more than 300 days of sunshine a year – and a unique mix of tranquil waters, rugged mountains, and tons of fun – it’s hard to stay inside. Discover Lake Havasu City – just a short drive from Route 66 – and play like you mean it.®

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