The Shamrock Court Motel in Sullivan, Missouri. It can be yours for $125,000. Lots of possibilities. Actually, now you're too late. Missouri's Roamin' Rich bought it.

Friday, February 12, 2016

News from Along Route 66: January 2016: Racism On Route 66

JANUARY 12--  Information about the Catholic Church in Amboy, California.  The church was dedicated on March 8, 1951.

JANUARY 13--  100 Years of Drive-In theaters on one map showing all 4,500 sites.  The first one opened in New Mexico in 1914.  I'd always heard it opened in the 1930s in New Jersey.

JANUARY 16--  The Negro Motorist Greenbook.  "You may need it" as the cover said.  When we think about Route 66, you rarely think of the extra obstacles that black motorists encountered in that age of Jim Crow Laws and "Sundown" towns.  A "Sundown" town was one where a black person had best not be when the sun went down.

Victor Green began publishing it in 1936 and continued until 1964 to "give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulty, embarrassment and to make his trip more enjoyable.

This was a sad and unfortunate period of our history, thankfully somewhat gone.

--RoadDog

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