Technical Report, Volume ii Tales from the mother Road: case Studies of the people and places of Route 66 A study conducted by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in collaboration with the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program and World Monuments Fund Study funded by American Express TECHNICAL REPORT, VOLUME II Tales from the Mother Road: Case Studies of the People and Places of Route 66 A study conducted by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in collaboration with the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program and World Monuments Fund Study funded by American Express Center for Urban Policy Research Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, New Jersey June 2011 AUTHORS David Listokin and David Stanek Kaitlynn Davis with Michelle Riley Andrea Ryan Sarah Collins Samantha Swerdloff Jedediah Drolet other participating researchers include Carissa Johnson Bing Wang Joshua Jensen Center for Urban Policy Research Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, New Jersey ISBN-10 0-9841732-5-0 ISBN-13 978-0-9841732-5-9 This report in its entirety may be freely circulated; however content may not be reproduced independently without the permission of Rutgers, the National Park Service, and World Monuments Fund. Table of Contents Technical Report, Volume II INTRODUCTION TO ROUTE 66 AND TALES FROM THE MOTHER ROAD ................................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER ONE History of Route 66 and Contemporary Efforts to Preserve the Mother Road .............................................................. 21 CHAPTER TWO Tales from the Mother Road: Introduction .................................................................................................................... 66 Palms Grill, Atlanta, Illinois ............................................................................................................................................ 74 Joliet Historical Museum, Joliet, Illinois ......................................................................................................................... 82 Ariston Café, Litchfield, Illinois ...................................................................................................................................... 90 The Murals of Pontiac, Illinois ....................................................................................................................................... 96 Shea’s Gas Station, Springfield, Illinois ....................................................................................................................... 105 Mother Road Festival, Springfield, Illinois ................................................................................................................... 113 The Murals of Cuba, Missouri ..................................................................................................................................... 116 Route 66 State Park, Eureka, Missouri ....................................................................................................................... 127 “Four Women on the Route” (Kan-O-Tex), Galena, Kansas ....................................................................................... 135 The Round Barn and POPS, Arcadia, Oklahoma ....................................................................................................... 143 Route 66 Museum, Clinton, Oklahoma ....................................................................................................................... 156 Coleman Theatre, Miami, Oklahoma ........................................................................................................................... 166 The Rock Café, Stroud, Oklahoma ............................................................................................................................. 174 Vickery Station and Meadow Gold Sign, Tulsa, Oklahoma ......................................................................................... 195 Conoco Gas Station, Shamrock, Texas ...................................................................................................................... 207 Kelly’s Brew Pub, Albuquerque, New Mexico ............................................................................................................. 214 The Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari, New Mexico ...................................................................................................... 221 Cool Springs Camp, Kingman, Arizona ....................................................................................................................... 228 La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Arizona ............................................................................................................................ 235 Route 66 Rendezvous Car Show, San Bernardino, California .................................................................................... 242 The Main Street Program and Route 66 ..................................................................................................................... 246 Folk Art on Route 66 ................................................................................................................................................... 265 ] INTRODUCTION TO ROUTE 66 AND TALES FROM THE MOTHER ROAD Running about 2,400 miles from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, Route 66 is an American and international icon, myth, carnival, and pilgrimage. This celebrated road has succeeded in mirroring the mood of the United Statesfor nearly a century. Gestated in the booming 1920s, Route 66 was promoted by Cyrus Avery (today known as the Father of Route 66) and others as the “shortest and most direct Route between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Coast.” Paved end to end by 1937, the highway was marketed by Avery’s National U.S. 66 Highway Association through a series of publicity events including the 1929 transcontinental footrace that followed Route 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then onto New York City, dubbed the “Bunion Derby.” During the Great Depression, Route 66 became the “road of flight” for families escaping the Dust Bowl. During World War II, it was one of the major routes for transporting armed forces—troops and materials. Later came the post-war exodus of ex-GIs and their families to join the booming California job market. In the recovery years, times were good, and American families took two-week vacations to drive Route 66 and see the wonders of the West. In the 1960s, the +&+!F#,,14& !0!$*!+1,# &01,/&,21!^^0,21%,# “hippie” counterculture lured thousands of the &*&<()%,*? nation’s disenchanted youth west on Route 66, */,9::.$*)',&,0$ hitchhiking or packed in microbuses. During the 1960s and 1970s, Route 66 became less important for highway travel as people flocked to the more efficient ribbons of concrete of the interstate highway system which was begun in 1956. The final section of Route 66 was bypassed by Interstate 40 at Williams, Arizona in 1985. In all, the Mother Road was “replaced” from a transportation engineering perspective by Interstates 55, 44, 40, 15 and 10. ^ +*!*0/HH Chicago Springfield St. Louis Los Angeles Santa Fe Santa Monica Flagstaff Albuquerque Oklahoma City Amarillo But transportation engineers do not rule the heart and the siren call of the Mother Road and its special sense of place, personality, and time continues to lure legions of United States and international tourists. To cite just one example, the Route 66 Museum of Clinton, Oklahoma (a community of about 9,000 located approximately 100 miles west of Oklahoma City) attracted about 35,000 visitors in 2009 (almost four times the local population), including about 10,000 international visitors. Sometimes traveling the Mother Road, as Route 66 is popularly referred to, takes interesting forms. Some travelers, including one recent 71-year old retiree, have jogged its entire length.1 In 2010, a Frenchman started “doing the route” entirely on stilts.2 There are regular caravans of many different types of vehicles making their way on the Mother Road, ranging from bicycles to American muscle cars, from husky-tuned Harley Davidsons to rumbling big-finned Cadillacs, and including as well a dollop of vintage cars and motorcycles air-lifted from literally around the globe to take on the 2,400-mile trek. This near-century caravan of people and vehicles traversing Route 66 has inspired media and literature and, in turn, has been fueled by the trumpeting of the Mother Road in the creative arts. Route 66 has been immortalized at various points in its history through song, film, TV, and literature. Books such as John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road both directly and indirectly contributed to the highway’s popularity during its heyday as a passage west. Bobby Troup’s seminal song, “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66,” became a theme song for the highway, and is still recognizable today to people even only remotely aware of Route 66’s historic significance. The popular 1960s American TV show Route 66 caused the route to soar as an icon in the public consciousness even as it was falling into decline as a highway. More recently, since the decommissioning of Route 66 in 1985, movies like YC_YF6!/F,) /!1&/!!',$0!+1&/!)!+$1%,#,21!^^?D*/.HH?%11->EE/3/,21!^^?),$0-,1?,*EZXXaIYZIXYI/%&3!?%1*)