Along 66, April 2019: The Ariston in Illinois and Newkirk, New Mexico (A Near Ghost Town)

These are taken from the Route 66 News site, the first place you want to go to find out what is going on along our Mother Road.  I only write about some of the things, the site has a lot more, complete with pictures and video.  Plus, the site goes into much greater detail.  Check it out.

APRIL 12--  U.S. Representative Rodney Davis spoke Thursday about the Ariston Cafe's 95th anniversary in Litchfield, Illinois.  It opened in 1924 in Carlinville, but moved to Litchfield in 1935.

One of our favorite places on 66 and it is so good to see it coming back.

APRIL 15--  Original Route 66 alignment verified near Newkirk, New Mexico.  It was part of the road in the 1920s and part of it is on private land.  It was an unpaved section and was part of US-66 until the road was realigned to the north and on a paved road.

Today, Newkirk is almost a ghost town.  I looked at the Yahoo Image results for the town and they bear out that description.  Wikipedia says the 2010 population was 7.

One notable person from there.  She was Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert (1894- 1991), noted for educator, nutritionist, activist, writer and inventor of the u-shaped fried taco shell.

Perhaps we'll get off at Highway 129 next time through New Mexico.

--RoadDog