Table of Contents
Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino
12th Mojave Road Rendezvous
California's First State Historic Highway - Route 66
Incredible Coincidence by Vivian Davies
Nuggets From Needles by Maggie McShan
Charlie Brown on Route 66?
History of Changes for U.S. 66 Through Topock by Darin Kuna
ROUTE 66 RENDEZVOUS IN SAN BERNARDINO
San Bernardino CA – The streets of San Bernardino will be turned back to the 1950s
on September 1st and 22nd as the Route 66 Rendezvous roars into
town. The two-day event is sponsored by the San Bernardino Convention & Visitors
Bureau, San Bernardino Over The Hill Gang, The National Orange Show, and the San
Bernardino County Sun.
The event is expected to draw several hundred automobiles from the western region of
the United States. "Show and Shine" Car Show Classes include over sixty
categories of cars including modified roadsters, classics and antiques.
"This being the second year for the event, I am anticipating more participants and
spectators as the event grows and evolves. The National Orange Show grounds is really the
perfect venue for this type of event," noted Dan Stark, Executive Director of the San
Bernardino Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Cruise Night will be held on Friday September 21st from 6 to11 p.m.
Registration for the "Poker Run" rally will take place at Lemans Nissan in the
San Bernardino Auto Plaza. The cruise route will start at the Auto Plaza and take the
cruisers past the National Orange Show on "E" Street and then through the
downtown area of San Bernardino. The rally will end at the National Orange Show.
The Route 66 Rendezvous Car Show will be held on Saturday Sept. 22nd with
activities starting at 7:30 a.m. The show will feature a cruise lane, music, games, food
and beverages, jet car demonstration, door prizes, flea market and cash prizes. 50s
"oldies entertainment" will be provided by T.C. and The Slicks throughout the
day.
Admission to the Route 66 Rendezvous is $3.00 for adults, children under twelve free,
parking additional.
12TH MOJAVE ROAD RENDEZVOUS, NEEDLES, CA, 11-14 OCTOBER 1991
Sponsored by: Friends of the Mojave Road, Bureau of Land Management, Needles Chamber of
Commerce, and the City of Needles.
We are Tour Guides on Route 66 for Mojave Road Rendezvous. …from the
Twelfth Mojave Road Rendezvous Registration Form now being mailed to Friends of the
Mojave Road:
In keeping with expanding interest in old U.S. Highway 66, the Rendezvous is offering a
new kind of tour this year. Assuming that many of you are coming from the direction of the
Los Angeles Basin, and that you’ll be traveling I-15 to Barstow and then I-40 to
Needles, we’re offering some guided tours as you first drive into the Rendezvous.
That is, you’ll assemble in Ludlow on the way in, meet a tour guide, and be guided on
into Needles over old Route 66 instead of on I-40.
You’ll travel via Ludlow, Siberia, Bagdad, Amboy, Chambless (Cadiz), Danby, Essex,
Fenner, and Goffs. A CHR66A Tour Guide will meet you at the indicated times in Ludlow and
lecture as you roll over the "Main Street of America". All Route 66 tours will
be on CB channel 6 (since we don’t have a channel 66). Get off I-40 at Ludlow exit,
50 miles east of Barstow and gather at the east side of the old Murphy Brothers Mercantile
building.
These tours are all on asphalt roads, 2WD. All the Route 66 tours beginning in Ludlow
will be hosted by the CHR66A. There are two tours on Thursday, 10 October: 2:00 p.m. and
4:00 p.m. There are three tours on Friday, 11 October: 12 noon, 2:00, and 4:00 p.m. There
will be one tour on Saturday, 12 October, 8:00 a.m.
CALIFORNIA’S FIRST STATE HISTORIC HIGHWAY IS ROUTE 66
This measure would designate the portion of U.S. Route 66 from the California border to
Santa Monica as "State Historic Highway Route 66" and would direct the
Department of Transportation [Caltrans] to erect plaques and markers showing the
designation, as specified.
WHEREAS, Route 66, a 2,000-mile highway from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica,
California, has played a major role in the 20th century history of our country;
and
WHEREAS, Route 66 has become a symbol of the American people’s heritage of
travel and their legacy of seeking a better life; and
WHEREAS, Route 66served as a funnel for the 20th century migration from
the Dust Bowl to the Central States, and
WHEREAS, Route 66 has been memorialized in such books as The Grapes of Wrath,
songs, motion pictures, and television programs, and has become an accepted part of
American popular culture, and
WHEREAS, during the early 1980s, structures and other features along Route 66 began
to disappear and their historical value was lost to the State of California and the
Nation; now, therefore be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring,
That the portion of Route 66 extending from the California border to Santa Monica be
officially designated as "State Historic Highway Route 66", and be further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is directed to determine the cost
of erecting appropriate plaques and markers, consistent with the signing requirements for
the state highway system, showing the official designation, and upon receiving donations
from private sources and other non state funds covering that cost, to erect those plaques
and markers; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit a copy of this resolution
to the Director of Transportation.
INCREDIBLE COINCIDENCE by Vivian Davies
The foregoing is ACR #6, as introduced by Assemblyman (66th District) Jerry
Eaves. The measure cleared both houses July 11th.
The memo from the Chief Clerk of the Assembly alerting Caltrans to get going in
erecting the new historic signs was received by Perry L. Lowden, Deputy Chief, Caltrans
Division of Traffic Operation, Sacramento, on Friday, August 9th. Responding
immediately, on the following Monday morning Jerry Kundert, Office of Signs and
Delineation, began his research to come up with a computerized design for the new sign,
and to find out just where Route 66 is, and over what part of it does Caltrans have
jurisdiction.
Enter us – The California Historic Route 66 Association!
Needing to be in Sacramento for business on Wednesday, I intended to arrive a day early
(Tuesday) so I could touch base with the State Archives with whom we are their liaison for
their traveling road exhibit of photos of Route 66. By an unexplainable glitch, and
finding myself in Sacramento an extra day early, Monday, August 12, I headed for
Caltrans’ Library and History Center. When the librarian mentioned "there a run
on Route 66 today" I quickly made acquaintance with Jerry Kundert who was already
making photocopies of the information he had been asked to get. And Jerry, from Shasta
County, was unimpressed that a representative of the Route 66 Association happened to be
there.
Spending the entire day researching, making copies and returning the files, it was 4:30
p.m. Enter Jerry, this time pleased to see me, asked, "Can you help me?" He
needed to mark a big map exactly where 66 was, and is. This done by now, he was willing
for me to meet his boss.
In the remaining half hour of that business day, in Perry Lowden’s office, I was
able to explain that Jerry’s computerized rendition of our new historical sign had,
alas, the round sixes and the US was too close together—my T-shirt
being a quick example!
And that design was headed for manufacture, had I not been there quite by chance, on
that day and hour! I left with Jerry’s quick rendition of squared sixes and the
spaced out US letters, and the promise that our historian and artist, Darin Kuna,
would provide an authentic drawing and get it quickly back up to them.
But before leaving, it was not difficult to get Perry Lowden to agree to the importance
of Caltrans’ erecting directional signs on I-40 and I-15 to guide travelers to old
Route 66. As a result Darin’s detailed proposal indicating the freeway off ramps
where directional signs are needed was included with his rendering of the final design of
California’s first new historic road sign.
NUGGETS FROM NEEDLES by Maggie McShan
Oops! a little correction in the May Roadsigns in the "Lucy’s
Corvettes" Route 66 Road Tour story, Bill McDonald was called owner of Hungry Bear
Restaurant in error. Bill works there as a professional baker. Bob Dressel is the owner.
Hungry Bear is a business member of our association and is located on Route 66. Don’t
miss stopping there when in Needles for some of Bill’s superb baked treats, as a
finishing touch to The Bear’s great meals.
When Vivian called today, saying "get the Needles column in pronto!" I
thought it would have to be a "this and that" production, so here goes.
Don’t ya’all know that we go into summer doldrums here through July and August?
It’s either up in front of the A/C, like a desert tortoise in its burrow, or go to
the river to keep cool. I mean, it is lazy time!
Congrats to Shawn Abell for the May cover of Roadsigns. I’ve always adored
Mrs. Millet’s Café in Daggett. Talk about historic! It has been there forever, and
should be preserved. Some of our members wonder who owns it. Perhaps some of our readers
know. Ifso, send info to Roadsigns; or to me at PO Box 22, Needles CA 02363. When
Mac lived in Yermo nearly 60 years ago, Mrs. Millet was serving her delectable meals, and
signs along Route 66 announced "All you can eat for $1.00". I plan to borrow
that sketch as a cover for Footprints, our mini-magazine. Vivian said it’s ok.
Sorry if my story about Lucy’s Corvette Tour is a little repetitious of what
others wrote in last edition. I just had to tell it from my angle. Why not sooner? Like I
said, it’s summer doldrums.
By the way, I forgot to mention one very important thing in the story. When helping to
plan the Corvette welcoming party, I made a point of visiting the other leading auto
agency in town, that of Ron Ray Ford, run by Ron and Henni Ray. Ron was out but Henni was
there so I invited them to come to the reception. Naturally, there is a friendly rivalry
between the Ford and Chevy places, but Henni said they had already been discussing the
event and would be pleased to come, except they had an engagement out of town.
She said, "Ron and I would like to sponsor something for a tour of classic
Fords". She added, "Get busy, Maggie, and bring us some Fords!" I replied
that I had that very idea in mind; that I am not really in position to do it myself, but
there are others in our organization that could pull it off. Be thinking about it, Ford
fans!
Frankly I feel I should park my new blue Chevrolet truck around the block when visiting
Ron and Henni. They are great supporters of the community, just like Don and Jerry, out at
the GM place. Ford is located on Broadway, which was Route 66 part of the time.
Talk about dumb! I let myself get attacked by a wheelchair and got "all torn
up" inside. The expression reminds me of the time our pet monkey scared a neighbor so
badly she fell down. Ever after she said she was torn up inside, but she looked perfectly
healthy to me, and I thought it was prejudice against monkeys. Later their dog bit me so
we were even. Anyway, I was unwisely unloading a wheelchair out of the back of the truck
by myself and it swarmed on me. I felt a ripping and a terrific pain. Xrays show a rib
partly pulled loose and a torn muscle. I’ll survive but it hurts, especially when I
breathe deeply, which the doctor said do or I might get pneumonia. It has been a good
excuse to stay inside, get some writing done and watch the world go by. Gosh! I can’t
even crank the pencil sharpener! The wheelchair is for Mac. He can barely walk now, poor
guy! It’s a result of strokes. He used to lead the pack when we were on desert hikes
or rock hunting expeditions.
I believe the road in front of our house will be officially named Route 66, probably
because the city wants to put an end to my pestering about it. Recently I backed off from
a proposal to rename some streets Route 66 (except mine. Selfish? You bet. It is
Route 66!) because so much furor developed over it. Instead, in a letter to the City
Council I offered to support designation of a historic Route 66 tour, with appropriate
signs, and leave the present street names as they are. I didn’t go to the council
meeting, thanks to my rib, but had someone else read the letter, and it was published in
the Desert Star. I heard it was well received.
Actually I think everyone here is excited about having historic Route 66 officially
signed and celebrated. We just have to meet a certain quota of squabbling about where it
was … Broadway? Front Street? Strong evidence exists that it was on both streets at
different periods. It will all iron out eventually, and I don’t aim to get my blood
pressure all riled up. Let the "old timers" decide. I’ve only been here for
55 years!
CHARLIE BROWN ON ROUTE 66? from "Travels with Charles Schulz in ‘Comic
Inspiration’ in National Geographic Traveler, July/Aug 1991, by Charles Schulz
It’s funny how images from your travels stick in your mind. The first trip I
remember was when I was six. I grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, where my dad had a
barbershop. (Charlie Brown’s dad is also a barber.) My father decided to move to
Needles, California, so we piled into our 1928 Ford and drove across America.
We camped out every night; I used to wonder what it would be like to stay in a hotel.
We either pitched a big tent in a campground or stopped overnight in what they called
tourist cabins. Each one was just a box with nothing in it. It was the era when Americans
first took to the highways to see the country. Along the road I remember standing on a
picnic table and getting my first glimpse of the mountains far in the distance; I suppose
they were the Rockies. I can still see them.
Finally we arrived in Needles on a very hot night—most nights in Needles are very
hot—and we lived there for a year. In my comic strip, Snoopy’s brother Spike
lives near this same desert town, where we usually see him sitting by a saguaro. But I
didn’t get my idea of his surroundings from childhood memories. Mine is just a
cartoon desert, a made-up place.
HISTORY OF CHANGES FOR U.S. 66 THROUGH TOPOCK
By Darin Kuna
Anyone having traveled east on I-40 just after crossing the Colorado River into Arizona
may have noticed an exit at Topock. Any traveler looking for a McDonalds or Denny's is not
going to find it here. Topock never was more than a small town that once served as a stop
along old U.S. Highway 66.
Though never one of the towns mentioned in the song, Route 66, Topock appeared
in the 1939 movie classic Grapes of Wrath as a place where the Joads stopped to
take a glance at California before crossing the Colorado River. Since that time Route 66
and Topock have seen some drastic changes.
Before U.S. Highway 66 was given designation in 1926, it was called Old National Trails
Highway. Topock at that time had two bridges connecting Arizona to California. One was the
Red Rock Bridge, a massive 660-foot steel cantilever span that served as a train trestle
for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. The second was the Old Trails Arch
Bridge, which still stands today. Built in 1916, the Old Trails Arch Bridge was
constructed to carry traffic across the Colorado River and for the first 12 years of
existence was the longest three-hinged arch in the United States. Although long and
narrow, two cars could easily pass each other but the width of the bridge restricted
busses and trucks to cross only one way at a time.
This became a real problem to World War II when wartime transport and desert maneuvers
of heavy equipment were restricted to cross the bridge one way with one vehicle at a time.
This proved to be too restrictive for military purposes and an inconvenience for regular
traffic that had to wait while the military crossed their vehicles.
In 1942 the Santa Fe Railroad proposed plans for construction of a new bridge to be
located 500 feet upstream from the Red Rock Bridge, in order to straighten and
double-track its line for streamliners and heavy freight traffic. The bridge was completed
in 1945 and the Red Rock Bridge was abandoned. The Arizona and California Highway
Commissions were looking for new ways to reroute U.S. 66 over the Colorado River. At the
same time A.T.&S.F. was being pressured to dismantle the old Red Rock Bridge. The
bridge was donated to the two states and converted into a highway bridge. By June 1947
U.S. Highway 66 was rerouted over the much wider, stronger Red Rock Bridge and was
realigned over 1.5 miles of old railroad right-of-way west of the river which now is
National Trails Highway through Park Moabi. This new alignment left the Old Trails Arch
Bridge abandoned and bypassed one of the crookedest, steepest grades west of
the river at that time. The Old Trails Arch Bridge is presently being used as a cradle for
a large gas line by P.E.&E. and has recently been named a historical landmark.
The next major change came in the fall of 1951 when a new bypass was opened to traffic
from the Red Rock Bridge to Kingman, Arizona. This was called the Topock-Kingman Cutoff
which proved to be a much straighter, safer route to Kingman than the previous route
through Oatman which had plenty of steep, narrow grades and dangerous, sharp curves. The
old route through Oatman can still be driven in its entirety but the Topock-Kingman Cutoff
is now part of I-40.
Interstate 40 didn’t make its way through Topock until 1966. A new bridge was
built over the Colorado River between the present Santa Fe Railroad Bridge and the Red
Rock Bridge. When traffic was rerouted over the new interstate bridge, Red Rock Bridge was
once again abandoned. Shortly after, the bridge was disassembled and sold for scrap. But
the historic Red Rock Bridge did more than serve the purpose for which it was built. It
served the railroad over the river and then as a bridge for Route 66. The only remaining
part of this bridge can still be seen on the west back of the river in the form of a
concrete foundation.
Today, the only trace of old Route 66 through Topock is the old road to Oatman; the
rest is covered over by the interstate. Other than that, Topock is little more than a
couple of houses, mobile homes and an exit from the freeway to drive to Laughlin, Nevada.
One thing that still stands today is an old railroad water tower that has withstood
time and change through Topock. It can be seen along the north side of the freeway. So
next time you are passing through Topock or taking the short-cut up to Laughlin via the
Topock exit, take a few minutes and get to know this little town and consider its history.
