About That Curse of the Billy Goat

From the same source as the last post.

The five guys named their goat, get this, Wrigley.

In case some of you aren't particularly baseball fans or Cub fans, here's the downlow on the infamous CURSE.

The Chicago Cubs have the Curse of the Billy Goat on their heads.

The Curse of the Billy Goat  was issued before Game 4 of the 1945 World Series.  William "Billy Goat" Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat  Tavern & Grill in Chicago, arrived at Wrigley Field with two tickets-- one for himself and one for his good-luck pet goat.  (Remember the Billy Goat Grill from that hilarious SNL sketch "Cheesboiger, cheesboiger, cheeps, no fries.")

According to tavern history,  ballpark ushers stopped Sianis from entering, stating that animals weren't allowed to enter the ballpark.  (I don't know, but I've known some Cub fans who might qualify for that title.)

Frustrated, Sianis appealed to Cub owner  P.K. Wrigley, who replied, "Let Billy in but not the goat.  That goat stinks."

Legend has it that  Sianis threw up his arms and exclaimed, "The Cubs ain't  gonna win no more.  The Cubs will never win  a World series so long as the goat is not allowed in Wrigley Field."

The Cubs then went on, without Billy Sianis or the goat, and lost that World Series Game 4 and there has never been another Cubs World Series appearance since then (of course, until 2016).

Maybe the Five Guys' Goat Was Allowed In.  It Certainly Walked Far Enough To Deserve It.  --RoadGoat

Iowa's White Pole Road: Experience Five Small Towns-- Part 1: Dexter, Iowa 'The Original One Horse Town'

From the White Pole Road .com site.

DEXTER  

The City of Dexter was founded in 1868, named after  the famous New York racehorse Dexter whose image was popular at the time.  Even the New York Times   proclaimed that Dexter was "The Original One Horse Town."      Population 611 in 2010 census.  A bustling metropolis.

THINGS TO SEE:

**  ROUNDHOUSE COMMUNITY CENTER

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  This unique architectural elliptical engineering feat was built in 1916 and was once home to a basketball court.  It currently serves as a community center.

**  BONNIE AND CLYDE SHOOTOUT SITE

Check out the location  of the former Dexfield Park where the infamous Barrow Gang fought against the local posse in 1933.     Look for an informational granite marker north of town  on the Dexfield Road.

--RoadDog

Along 66, April 2021: Atlanta, Illinois, Taking Care of Its 66 Heritage and White Fence Farm Losing Business in the You-Know-What

APRIL 21

New exhibit in Atlanta, Illinois, showcases an original section of Route 66.   A 1924 section that is a quarter mile long.  It used to be part of Illinois Highway 4, which then became Route 66 in 1926.

It was a part of the first paved road in Logan County, Illinois.  Located on the city's north side.  We've seen it before and thought it likely was a part of 66 at one time.

Atlanta is one town on the Mother Road that knows how to push their Route 66 heritage.  Now, if they'd just replace that hokey smiley face on their water tower with a Route 66 shield, things would be really smiley in that town.

APRIL 29

White Fence Farm in Romeoville, Illinois, has lost $2.4 million since the pandemic began.  

Third generation owner Laura Hastert has had to cut her staff from 125 to just 40.  We've never been able to eat there as they always seem to be closed at the times we drop by.

Well, here's hoping things get better for the White Fence.

--RoadDog

Five Guys & a Goat Walk the Walk to Break the Curse in 2012-- Part 3: A Two-Fold Purpose

Okay, back to the newspaper article.

The ragtag group arrived at Ruidoso, New Mexico and then left the next day on their walk across the United States.  They started on February 25 at the Cubs spring training base at Mesa,  Arizona.

The goal is to arrive at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Memorial Day weekend to complete their 1,900 mile hike.  Hopefully, their goat will be allowed inside.

They are in their 20s and 30s, except for a 5-month old goat they purchased in Phoenix and they have a two-fold purpose.

One is to reverse the Curse of the Billy Goat, a plague that had kept the Cubs out of the World Series for 60 years (every Cub fan knows that).  The other reason is to raise money for the Fred Hutchinson  Cancer research Center in Seattle.

Let the Goat In.  --RoadGoat

Five Guys & a Goat Walk the Walk on Route 66 Back in 2012-- Part 2: The Who, What and Why

Like I said, the couple who have the Route 66 Times site met this group of wanderers back in 2012 when they took a picture of the Niangua, Missouri, bridge.  It is too bad they didn't also take a picture of the group.  As I said in the last post, you never know who you're going to meet on the road.

Lots of interesting stories.  What was that TV show back in the 50s and 60s that had 8 million stories?  (See below for answer.)

Probably that many with Route 66.  Well, here is their interesting story.

From the March 28, 2012, Albuquerque (NM) Journal "Cub fans, goat walk across U.S." by Jim Kalvelage.

Hey, Cub fans.  If the Cubs aren't playing the White Sox, that's my team!!  And, wasn't there something about a goat in Cub lore?  This could be a REAL interesting story.

Could this have something to do with a curse and winning the you-know-what?

Looking Forward to This.  --RoadGoat

The TV show was about New York City and was called "The Naked City"

Five Guys & a Goat on Route 66 Back in 2012-- Part 1: Back to Springfield?

In the last post, I mentioned that Ken and Delores Bogren had met five guys& a goat while taking a picture of the Niangua, Missouri, bridge.  Now, that name sure piqued my interest to find out more.  One of the things that we really like about Route 66 is that you just never know what is around the next bend.

Lots and lots of stories out there.  And you just don't know.  Like the time Liz and I were at Ted Drewes in St. Louis for a concrete stop and came across a whole bus load of Brutish folks on an end-to-end Route 66 trip.

We talked with a couple enjoying that frozen treat and they said they had just been in Springfield, Illinois, the day before and that morning and after, the concretes, they were going to get back on the road and spend the night in Springfield.

They said that they were a bit confused as to why they were going back to Springfield, Illinois, since they had just been there.  We explained to them that the United States is a big country and there are many cities and towns in different states with the same name.  "You are going to Springfield, Missouri."

Just one of those little Route 66 tidbits, nothing major in its own right, but just interesting.

Back to Springfield?  --RoadDog

Niangua, Mo., Route 66 Attractions: The Niangua Gas Station, Bridge and Goat

Located on Old US Highway 66, Hwy. CC, 2.2 miles southwest of Niangua Junction.

To your right, on the eastern side of the 1924 pony truss  style Niangua  River bridge there is a cottage with a steep pitched  gable roof, a stone chimney and wood siding as well as a window in the attic.

Built around 1930 when some gas stations were designed to blend in with their surrounding community with a "cottage" style look.

We refer to them as Cottage Stations.

This structure is unused, but still standing.

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Route 66 Times says that the Niangua River bridge  is a 1924  seven-paneled  Pratt Pony  Truss bridge built by M.E.  Gillioz two years before Route 66 came into being.

The single span bridge stretched 80 feet and has a deck  with a bit over 20 feet.  Now, if that Gillioz name seems to ring a bell, it should.    Gillioz also built the  Gillioz Theater in Springfield, Missouri.

And, an interesting story at their site.  When they took the picture of the bridge in 2021 they encountered  "5 Guys and a Goat."  Now, this is just one of those things that happen on the Old Mother Road.  I'll write about this next post.

You just never know what you're going to run into on Route 66.

Goats? Goats on the Road?  Please Tell.  --RoadDog

Niangua, Missouri's Route 66 Attractions-- Part 4: The Rockhaven

ROCKHAVEN RESTAURANT, CAFE and FILLING STATION

Highway cc  (Old Route 66)

About  1.4 miles south of Niangua Junction, to your right, on the eastern side of the road next to a wide bend.

This is private property built around 1925.  The one floor wood structure  has broad gabled  roofs and rubble rock walls.

Owned by the Ferriers during the 1920s, they leased it  as a Conoco  Service Station in 1932.  In 1938, it was a Texaco.

It has changed owners many times and operated not only as a gas station but also as a tavern, restaurant and cafe, with some cabins as well.  It was open until the mid 1960s.

--RoadDog

Niangua, Mo.'s Route 66 Attractions-- Part 3: Oak Vale Park

3652 State Highway CC (Old Route 66)

About .3 miles  south of Niangua Junction  to your left, or eastern side  of the road there is what once was  a cafe, service station and campground.  Two cabins are still standing 

Built in 1932,  it was also known as  Carpenter's Camp.  The one floor building with a steep pitched gable roof is a typical example of a Craftsman-style  cabin with local rock foundation wall.

Fred and Margaret Carpenter bought the place in 1936 and opened a Skelley gas station with a cafe.  In 1939, they sold it to  Florence Onstott who renamed it  Oak Vale Park and switched to Sinclair Gas and added cabins.  It later changed hands several times until it became a private residence which it is today.

Rittenhouse mentioned it as "Oak Vale Court with gas and cafe."

--RoadDog

Along 66, April 2021: The Captain Creek Bridge in Wellston, Ok. and Route 66 Bike Trail in Normal, Illinois

APRIL 16

How to update but preserve vital parts of a historic structure:  The Captain Creek Bridge in Wellston, Oklahoma.

Here is a very interesting story about how the town of Wellston lobbied for and got a loop of Route 66 to go through town as opposed to where the road was to be located south of town.  The effort was to keep people traveling through the town and keep business flowing.  Sadly for the town, it did not work.

APRIL 17

Route 66 Bike Trail extension in Normal, Illinois, would link Sprague's Super Service Station.

This is an extensive, McLean County effort to turn all of the original Route 66 into a bike trail.  The effort comes with a $471,000 price tag.  

I think it will be great to have most all of Route 66 turned into a bike trail as well (except through major cities).  This will be good for tourism.  I know when we drive the old road we often see folks on their bicycles along it.

So Glad That Bloomington-Normal Has Finally Become Aware of Its Route 66 heritage.  --RoadDog

Iowa's White Pole Road-- Part 5: To Bring In Tourism

Continued from May 5, 2021.

In 1965, Interstate I-80 was completed and the popularity of this historical road waned tremendously.  In 1980, this section was renumbered 925 and is now part of I-80 that has been declared US-6 in order to save federal transportation costs.

In 2003, State Highway 925 was given to the area counties who renamed it the White Pole Road.  The route has gone full circle over the last 100 years.  Poles along this 26 mile stretch have been painted white and once again it is up to the people to maintain the road and grow their communities.

The White Pole Road Development Corporation formed in 2002 in order to create a tourism industry to bring visitors and related revenues to each of the five communities.  The name White Pole Road was selected as a tribute to the original road that connected Adair, Casey, Menlo, Stuart and Dexter.

Definitely Going to Check This Road Out.  --RoadWhite

Lincoln Logs 2021: Historic Niland Cafe in Colo, Iowa-- Part 2

Niland's Cafe is located at the Reed-Niland  Corner beside a restored gas station and the Colo Motel at the junction of two of the famous pre-numbered highways: the Lincoln Highway going east-west and Jefferson Highway going north-south.

The buildings are owned by the Colo Development Group and the Wilsons are leasing and managing the businesses.

In the early days of automobile travel, two famous roads named for presidents, the Lincoln and Jefferson intersected just outside of Colo, Iowa, at a spot that became known as the Reed-Niland Corner.

In 1923, a Colo farmer named Charlie Reed began selling gasoline  and soon after that added food and lodging to his roadside business.  He was assisted in the effort by his nephew M. Reed Niland.  Three generations of the  two related families served customers for more than 70 years and the location became known as the Reed-Niland Corner or Niland's Corner.

Located at 24 Lincoln Way in Colo,  Niland's Cafe is open Fridays 11 am to 7 pm, Saturdays 7 am to 7 pm, and Sundays 7 am to 2 pm.

--RoadDog

Lincoln Logs, May 2021: Historic Niland's Cafe Reopens in Colo-- Part 1

From the May 13, 2021, Ames, Iowa, Tribune " 'It's really comfort food':  Historic Niland's Cafe  in Colo reopens under new management Friday" by Ronna Faaborg.

COVID-19 closed Niland's in August, but it is reopening Friday (today) under the new ownership of  Danny and Abi Wilson, longtime Colo residents.  They will have a smaller menu with lots of homemade items, including tenderloins made to their own recipe.

The menu will also include burgers, roast beef, potatoes and gravy, plenty of side dishes, pies and shakes.

The vintage Cadillac  that used to be parked in the dining room has been removed next door to the gas station museum so seating is more than doubled inside.

Niland's Cafe is located between the gas station museum  and the Colo Motel.  Rooms are $60 a night at the motel.

The couple has five children in the Colo school district and she teaches there.  He also owns a carpentry business.

Good To have It Back Open.  --RoadDog

Along 66, 2021: Yukon's Best Flour, Braum's Milk Bottle and 'Roaming' Rich Takes On MoDOT

APRIL 10

Yukon's Best Flour Mill named to Oklahoma's Most Endangered Places List.  Yukon, Oklahoma.  The sign and the neon sign on the structure are striking.  Sure hope the town realizes the importance of saving this place.

APRIL 12

Muralist to repaint and renovate big milk bottle on Oklahoma City's Milk Bottle Building.  We're talking about the the 11-foot tall Braum's Milk bottle located on top of a small building on a triangular site.

APRIL13

Rich Dinkela says that the requirements of the Missouri Department of Transportation insurance is way too expensive on the Gasconade River Bridge.  Taking on MoDOT, I don't know.

--RoadDog

Niangua, Missouri's Route 66 Attractions-- Part 2

ABBYLEE COURT

The remains and sign of the old Abbylee Motel (or Abbylee Court), built in 1940.  It had eight cabins, each with three rooms and gabled roofs.  The office was located up front and in the center with the cabins facing a graveled circular drive.

The cafe was burned down  after 1950 (and one cabin destroyed also).

This was a "strictly modern" business with "good food".  Rittenhouse mentions the "Abbylee Court and Cafe".

The original sign  proclaiming "ABBYLEE MODERN COURT AMONG THE TREES" is still there.

--RoadDog

Niangua, Missouri's Route 66 Attractions-- Part 1: Name and History

From The Route-66.com.

This, of course, was where Helen Jackson  was born and grew up.  She was regarded as the Last Civil War Widow.

Some Niangua Route 66 attractions:  

Oak Vale Park (cafe, cabins, gas station)

Niangua Filling Station (1930s)

Rockhaven restaurant, cafe, filling station.

Abbylee Court  and its iconic sign.

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History of Niangua

The name Niangua comes from a stream that runs  close to it and was named after the Osage word for "bear."

The area was surveyed in 1870 by the South Pacific Railroad Co. and shortly after John J, Redmond built the first general store.  Shortly after that, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad reached the area and built a station there, six miles north of Marshfield.

The post office opened the same year and was named Niangua.

Route 66  was created in 1926 and passed  just west of the town.

--RoadDog

Other Places on the Landmark Illinois Most Endangered List

The sites listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book are among the nine endangered sites across Illinois.

In addition, these are also listed:

**  Altgeld Gardens  shop and two school buildings in Chicago

**  Broadview Hotel in East St. Louis

**  Illinois Terminal Interurban Station in Decatur

**  James R. Thompson Center in Chicago

**  Joliet Steel Mill main  office building in Joliet

**  Klas Restaurant in Cicero

**  Havana Water Tower in Havana

**  Scott Foresman headquarters in Glenview

--RoadDog

Surviving Negro Motorist Green Book Sites in Illinois Along Route 66 (As of 2014)

From Route 66 News Blog.  These taken from the National Park Service.

Landmark Illinois has posted their 2021 Nine Most Endangered Places in the state.  One of them is actually several (but no one knows exactly how many) and that would be those places listed on the Negro Motorists' Green Book which gave the names and addresses where Blacks could eat, sleep and get gas when traveling during the United States' Jim Crow era.  They were not welcome at white establishments.

Downstate Sites still standing on Route 66.

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

Helen Robbins boarding house at 1616 E. Jackson Street

Nellie Tate boarding house at 400 W. Chenery Street

Julia F. Johnson boarding house at 1144 N. Seventh Street

Bessie Mosby townhouse at 1614 E. Jackson Street

Bernie Eskridge townhouse at 1501 E, Jackson Street

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EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS

P.B. Reeves boarding house at 1803 Bond Avenue

Mid-town townhouse, 2738 Bond Avenue

Places Needing Saving To Show the Way Things Were (Sadly).  --RoadDog

Along 66, April 2021: Did Hemmingway or Did He Not in Cubero, N.M.. The Devil's Rope in Texas

APRIL 4

Did Ernest Hemmingway really write "The Old Man and the Sea" at Cubero?   Cubero, New Mexico.PBS is having a three-part series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novak on Hemmingway's life.  One of the questions they will look into is the persisting question as to whether Hemmingway wrote all or part of the famous short story in Cubero, New Mexico (pop. 289).

APRIL 9 

The Devil's Rope Museum in McLean, Texas, reopens for the first time in a year.  It has been closed because of the you-know-what.

The museum is a tribute to barbed wire which went a long way toward fencing in Texas.  And, as all of us from DeKalb, Illinois, know, barbed wire was invented in town!!

You Can Never Have Too Many Museums, Like I Always Say.  --RoadDog

Route 66's Niangua, Mo., Birthplace of Helen Jackson 'The Last Civil War Widow'-- Part 2

Route 66 places:

Niangua Junction Station/Grocery (L) (c.1935, remodeled 1992)

Abbylee Modern Court (R) (c 1940).  Originally eight double cabins and a cafe  (offering "Meals & Sandwiches"), the Abbeylee Court (Among the Trees") was one of the more scenic motor courts along Missouri 66.  

A postcard (mailed in 1949) shows the cabin and the "Very Good Food" cafe that was destroyed by fire in 1950.  The court is now monthly rental property.

The Old Timber Hill Camp (L) (1935), once three cottages with private cooking facilities, community toilets and showers, renting  for $1 - $1.50.  The residence in front was the office.

We'll definitely drive through this place when we go for the Ramona Lehman's 50th anniversary of owning the Munger-Moss Motel in June.

--RoadDog

Route 66's Niangua, Missouri, Birthplace of the Civil War's Last Widow Helen Jackson-- Part 1

Back in December 2020, Helen Jackson died at age 101 in Marshfield, Missouri (also on Route 66).  She is believed to be the very last Civil War widow.  She was born in 1919 in Niangua, Missouri, also on Route 66 and she spent her entire life on Route 66.

I have written about her on Jan. 18 and April 20 in this blog.  You can click on her name in the labels below this.  I have also written in much more detail on her life in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog in April and May.  Click on that blog in the My Blogs section to the right of this.

She married Civil War veteran James Bolin when he was in his nineties and she was just a teenager.

We have been to Marshfield, but can not remember ever being in Niangua, so I had to look the town up and see what it had as far as Route 66stuff.

Route66 did not pass through Niangua on its main street but was located 1.2 miles west of it.  

In Skip Curtis' book "The Missouri Route 66 Tour Book" it shows Niangua with a population of 459 at the intersection of Highway M.

The town was named after the river, which received its name from the Indian word "ne anoga" which means "water that runs over a man."  Locals say it means "I won't go away" or "I won't go further," meaning  this is where one will settle.

--RoadDog

Iowa's White Pole Road Byway-- Part 4: Whiteway-No. 7, US-32, US-6, I-80

In 1922, the Great White Way  merged with the rival River-to-River Primary No. 7 Highway to form the new Whiteway-7 Highway.  And this was changed to U.S. Highway  2 in 1926.

In December  of 1931, sections of our White Pole Road officially became part of  U.S. Highway 6, which at one point was the longest  continuous east-west  route in the United States stretching from Cape Cod in Massachusetts to Long Beach in California.

Iowa joined other states in 1947 in officially designating US Highway 6 to be named  the Grand Army of the Republic Highway at the urging that organization of Civil War Union veterans.

In 1965, when Interstate I-80 was completed, the popularity of the once-important highway waned.

--RoadDog

Along 66, April 2021: Eat-Rite Diner and More Neon

I take these from the Route 66 News blog.  I only take the ones of most interest to me, but if you really want to know what is going on along our Mother Road, this is the source you need to check.  There is something everyday and often more.  Plus pictures and a lot more information.

APRIL 1

The Eat-Rite Diner in St, Louis, Missouri, has a new operator and may reopen by May after closing a few months ago.

I'm excited about this especially because my boycott against St. Louis because of the Confederate statue formerly in Forest Park was removed.  But they did the removal with dignity, a far cry from what those people in Richmond have done.

Plus, I can now get my concrete from Ted Drewe's.  I missed that.

APRIL 2

The 18th sign aided by Tulsa's Route 66 Neon Sign Grant Program has gone up.  It is on the Wildflower Cafe on the corner of Peoria and 11th Street (Route 66)  The cafe is not open yet.

More Neon, More Cafes.  --RoadNeon

Iowa's White Pole Road Byway-- Part 3: In the Beginning

The original White Pole Road of Iowa's River-To-River  Road insured that it was  straighter, leveler and a shorter route across the state with a town every five or six miles along the way.

As a predecessor of the U.S. highway system, the White Pole Road was not funded by the state and it was up to the people to maintain  or "drag the road" with their King drags in order to grow their communities.   The more travelers  you get on the White Pole Road, the more business you have.

Poles along the route were painted white and auto tourists were encouraged to travel The Great White Way."

The fall of 1912, the road eventually extended  east from Des Moines to Davenport to encompass the entire state with plans to extend eventually extend east to Chicago and west to Denver.

The State Legislature then created the Iowa State Highway Commission in 1913 and the Iowa  Highway Route Registration Act gave the commission the job of registering named trails that were more than 25 miles long.

The Great White Way Association applied  on October 6, 1913; paid the $5 fee and was awarded a certificate on July 20, 1914, making it the first certified Route under the provisions of the State Highway Committee.

--RoadDog

Along 66, March 2021: Valentine Diners and House of Pain Neon 'Jump Around'

MARCH 28

Albuquerque Police Substation on Nob Hill was once a Valentine diner.

Valentine diners were prefabricated  mail order small diners produced in Wichita, Kansas, after the Great Depression.  They were produced into the 1970s and a small number remain as  operating businesses (some even as restaurants).

Wikipedia says a few are popular roadside attractions along Route 66.  There are two in Winslow, Arizona  and one in bad shape at Twin Arrows, Arizona.

MARCH 31

Savior of "The Outsiders" house in Tulsa rescues the 11th Street Cleaners neon sign.

Danny Boy O'Connor is a member of the House of Pain rap group (best known for their "Jump Around" song) has bought it.  

He plans to restore it and hang it by his "Outsiders" house.

While on the subject of House of Pain's "Jump Around" you need to go to You Tube and watch videos of the beginning of the 4th quarter of University of Wisconsin football games.  There is also a good one taken at commencement exercises.

"Pack It Up, Pack It In, Let Me Begin, I Came To Win.... Jump Around.  --RoadJump