Down Da Road: Exton Hotel-- Rose Bowl-- Boots Motel

Down Da Road. New News About Old Roads.

1. EXTON HOTEL-- The hotel is located at the 400 block of East Lincoln Highway in West Whiteland Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. The 150 year-old structure was built in 1859 by John M. Bea. Later it became known as the Exton House.

In 1903, Isabel Darlington bought it and leased it for summer boarding. She sold it in 1928. It has been bought and plans call for remodeling it.


2. ROSE BOWL-- The January 1, 2010 Tulsa News 8 says that the Rose Bowl bowling alley, which has been on Route 66 for 50 years has gotten a new lease on life with all the construction of late.

It closed several years ago and since then has been plagued by fires and vandalism. Sam Baker bought it and so far has spent three times the amount he paid restoring it. However, it will not be a bowling alley any more, but will hold concerts and private events.

The wooden floors remain as does the unique old sign.


3. BOOTS MOTEL-- The January 5, 2009, Carthage (Mo) Press reports that the co-founder Ilda Boots died at age 102. She and her husband Arthur opened the Boots Motel in the 1920s and Boots Drive In across the street at the intersection of garrison and Central.

She was born November 25, 1906 when Teddy Roosevelt was president and the first Model T rolled off the assembly line.

The Licoln and Route 66. --RoadDog