Route 66, Lost & Found: Ruins and Relics Revisited, Volume 2

By Russell A. Olsen

“[The] text and photos make this . . . more than a pretty coffee-table book, Route 66 aficionados will want to add this descriptive tome to their collections.” —Ruidoso News (New Mexico)

Much more than a ribbon of crumbling asphalt, Route 66 is a cultural icon revered the world over for its nostalgic value—an east-west artery pointing America toward all the promise that the great West represented. But as stretches of Steinbeck’s “Mother Road” were bypassed and fell into disuse, so too did most of the bustling establishments that had sprouted up from Illinois to California to cater to weary travelers and hopeful vacationers alike. Motor courts, cafes, main streets, filling stations, and greasy spoons—all are represented in this second volume of Lost & Found images from photographer Russell Olsen. As with its predecessor, Route 66 Lost & Found (2004), this new installment presents dozens of locations along Route 66’s entire 2,297 miles, showing them both as in their heydays in period photographs and postcards and as they appear today. Each site is accompanied by a capsule history tracing the locale’s rise and fall (and sometimes rebirth), as well as an exclusive map pointing out its location along Route 66.

“Author Russell Olson has unearthed old photos and postcards of various buildings, landmarks and towns which he carefully researches and then rediscovers and takes pictures of them as they are today.” —Auto Aficionado

“I could barely put this down.” —Daily Express (UK)

“A good read for fans of roadside architecture.” —Classic and Sports Car (UK)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 1, 2006
• ISBN: 9781610604994

Book preview

ROUTE 66

LOST & FOUND

RUINS AND RELICS REVISITED, VOLUME 2

RUSSELL A. OLSEN

CONTENTS

PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ILLINOIS

MISSOURI

KANSAS

OKLAHOMA

TEXAS

NEW MEXICO

ARIZONA

CALIFORNIA

AFTERWORD

SOURCES/INDEX

PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The allure of Route 66 can put a powerful spell on a person. I offer myself as a prime example. It will sneak up and pounce on you without warning. One day you appear normal and seem fine, then, before you realize it, you find yourself strapped in your automobile traveling thousands of miles to search for and photograph Route 66 icons. I have never been able to pinpoint or put into words the reason for this addiction to the road, but its hold on me is formidable. The thrill of finding an old café or motel or, better yet, a long, abandoned portion of highway is exhilarating. Anyone who enjoys exploring our country’s old roads or even its old pioneer trails, like the Santa Fe and Oregon trails, knows what I am talking about.

Something about these historic pathways draws you in, and the more you dig, the deeper you want to go. So much history of these early roads and trails was never recorded or has been lost forever. Photographic documentation of the pioneer trails is mostly nonexistent. What a treat it would be to open the pages of a book and see the way the trail appeared when wagons blazed dusty tracks and pioneers and traders tackled the formidable Santa Fe. What did the Iron Springs Stage Station or the crossing at Turkey Creek look like during the heyday of the Santa Fe Trail? I have spent hours daydreaming and imagining these scenes.

In a hundred years will we look at Highway 66 as we do the old pioneer trails? Will Route 66 be viewed as an ancient and primitive trail once used by pioneering tourists? Will roads be unnecessary by then? Will there be anything left to explore? Will someone a hundred years in the future wonder what travel was like on Old Route 66, just as many of us today wonder about the dusty old wagon trails? These are the questions I hope to answer in the Route 66 Lost & Found books.

In its present state, Route 66 is a 2,400-mile museum of early auto travel, but sadly we lose a bit of that history in the name of progress every day. My goal is to document as much of this historic highway and its roadside culture as possible with the hope that future generations will look on these books as I do books on the old western trails. Can you imagine someone in the distant future being shocked by the fact that you actually had to stop for gasoline, or amazed that people actually used machines that needed such a primitive fuel to operate? I am sure that if you stop and think about the covered wagons of 150 years ago, your thoughts would be similar to those of someone 150 years from now regarding Route 66 and automobile travel. When you open this book and thumb through its pages, it is my sincere hope that you feel and experience a portion of the spell that Route 66 has put on me.

There are many people to thank for helping me with this book. I owe a great deal of gratitude to the people who allowed me access to their private postcard collections: Laurel Kane, Jerry McClanahan, Jeff Meyer, Steven Rider, Jim Ross, Joe Sonderman, and Mike Ward.

The following people I thank for helping with research and supplying vintage photos of many of the subjects appearing in this book: Nick Adam, Kathy Anderson, Tim Burchett, Marion Clark, C. H. Skip Curtis, Linda Drake, Mike Dragovich, Janice Lauritzen, John Hockaday, Richard Mangum, Scott Piotrowski, Bill Thomas, John Weiss, Betty Wheatley, and the late Tom Teague. Special thanks go out to Russell Adams at Schulman Photo Lab in Hollywood and to Chris More and Zach Allred for allowing me access to the PG&E facility for the Red Rock Bridge Photo. Thanks, also, to Brett Bather for technical assistance.

Finally, a very special thank you to Mardjie and Vince Paradero of Frank’s Custom Lab in North Hollywood for their invaluable assistance in the making of this book.

ILLINOIS

DELL RHEA’S CHICKEN BASKET, WILLOWBROOK

c. 1946

Adjacent to the current location of Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket, a man named Irv Kolarik owned and operated a service station where he not only serviced automobiles but also served up pie, coffee, and cold sandwiches at a small lunch counter. Unhappy with the dirty environment of the gas station, Kolarik thought selling more food would be more to his liking. One day, two local women overheard his complaining and offered to teach him how to cook fried chicken using their tasty recipe if he would agree to buy his chickens from them. A deal was struck and the rest, as they say, is history.

The chicken dishes became so popular that he quickly outgrew his small lunch counter and expanded by converting his two service bays into dining rooms. Eventually a new building was needed; in June 1946 the business moved to its current location and became known as the Nationally Famous Chicken Basket. Prior to 1946 the business was known both as Club Roundup and the Triangle Inn. In one of his more elaborate schemes developed to attract customers to a roadside business, Kolarik had the restaurant’s parapet roof flooded with water and hired professional ice skaters to skate on the rooftop during the winter months. Spotlights aimed at the skaters created quite a scene at night. People would come from miles around to view the rooftop spectacle and get a bite to eat, just as Kolarik had hoped.

The property changed ownership two times during the late 1950s and early 1960s. When four-lane Route 66 bypassed the Chicken Basket, the restaurant fell on hard times and was eventually repossessed. In 1963 Dell Rhea and his wife, Grace, bought the business from the bank and changed the name to Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket. Today the restaurant looks much as it did when it opened in 1946. The only alteration is an enclosed outdoor patio, which serves as another dining room. In June 1992 Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket was inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame. Rhea’s son, Patrick, purchased the restaurant from his family in 1986 and is responsible for many of the tasty dishes, including the secret chicken marinade, served up at the Chicken Basket today. Patrick is quite proud of the fact that all his dishes are prepared using the finest fresh ingredients and is quick to point out that his chicken is marinated for a full 24 hours before being hand-breaded. Anyone hungry?

AMBLER’S TEXACO GAS STATION, DWIGHT

c. 1933

Jack Schore built the original structure at the corner of Route 66 and Illinois Route 17 with the help of his son Paul in 1933. The station holds the honor of being one of the longest-operating service stations on all of Route 66. It uses a design commonly called the domestic style gas station that was developed by the Standard Oil Company in 1916. This neighborhood-friendly design stemmed from growing community opposition to the often-unsightly gas stations growing more common in and around towns during that time. It was an obvious effort to create gas stations that would blend in with their surrounding neighborhoods. This design also created a secure, homelike atmosphere that oil executives hoped would attract out-of-town travelers.

In 1936 Vernon VonQualon leased the property from Schore and operated the station for two years before turning it over to Basil Tubby Ambler, who operated the station from 1938 until 1965. During the early 1940s Ambler added a service bay, allowing the business to offer service and repairs year-round. In 1965, Ambler sold the station to Earl Kochler, who in turn sold it to Royce McBeath. It changed hands one more time when McBeath sold it to Phil Becker on March 4, 1970. Becker had begun working there in 1964, just one year before Ambler sold to Kochler. One year after Becker purchased the station, Texaco abruptly stopped supplying the station its gasoline. Becker signed on with Marathon, and the station was known as Becker’s Marathon Gas Station for over 26 years.

The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 2001. Although it changed hands many times, Ambler’s significant 27-year ownership prompted the station to be listed as Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station. It’s currently being restored to its 1940 appearance and will be utilized as a Route 66 interpretive center.