Along66, Nov. 2021: Guardian of Route 66 Statue Unveiled and Fort Leonard Wood's Black Officers Club Restored

NOVEMBER 7

The "Guardian of Route 66" statue was unveiled at Antares Point Visitors Center in Kingman, Arizona.  Artist Greg Arnold, known for his large Giganticus Headicus tiki sculpture at the center as well, unveiled his new work.

This is at the former Kozy Corner Trailer Court and Ranchero Motel.

As I say with museums and neon, you can never have too many of them.

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NOVEMBER 10

National Preservation Awards honors the restoration of the Black Officers Club at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation gave this honor to the fort which restored Building 2101, better known as the Black Officers Club which was built in 1941.

It is too bad the Army was as segregated as it was back then.  But, that was just the way it was.

--RoadDog

Along 66, Feb. 2021: The Chat 'n Chew in Normal, Illinois During Jim Crow Days

FEBRUARY 23

Chat 'n Chew near Route 66 in Normal, Illinois, catered to black customers during the Jim Crowe era.  It was a restaurant and grocery, one of a very few places black travelers along the Mother Road could use.  It was located at 403 North Fell Street, a block off Route 66.

It was owned by Richard Anson and was one of the few places black students at Illinois State University (Normal School back then) could eat.  A place by the campus called the Pilgrim Cafe would not serve blacks.  However, in 1947, protests by black and white veterans led to it being integrated.

I wonder if this was listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book?

Hard to believe that this was also in a northern state.

--RoadDog

Along 66, Jan. 2021: Oklahoma Rt. 66 Bicycle Route and the Alberta's Hotel in Springfield, Mo.

JANUARY 24

Lawmakers seek to designate Oklahoma Route 66 as a U.S. Bicycle Route.

This was introduced by State Representative John Talley (R-Stillwater)

The state has 375 miles of Route 66.  The U.S. Bicycle Route System is developing a national network of bicycle routes.

I know we have a long stretch of the old 66 turned into a bicycle path around Bloomington-Normal in Illinois.  Wouldn't that be great to have the whole route turned into a bicycle road.

JANUARY 25

The remarkable story of Alberta's Hotel in Springfield, Missouri.

This facility catered to Blacks in those days they were essentially not welcome on the Mother Road during the Jim Crow era.

The hotel was listed in the Green Book.  Both the hotel and the Green Book disappeared in the 1960s.

Alberta's Hotel was a former hospital  that was bought for $10,000 and made into a rooming house in what was a thriving black business district in Springfield.

--RoadDog

Along 66, June 2020: Rialto Square Theatre, Green Book and a Vintage Firestone Station

 JUNE 6--  Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, Illinois, will be temporarily converted into a traffic court for Will County.  They will be paid $700 a day.  Sadly, because of you-know-what, the venue has been closed since March.  Better to make some money than no money.

JUNE 9--  The Smithsonian Channel (which we sadly don't get) will air "Green Book:  Guides to Freedom" on line.  It originally aired in February 2019.  Actually, you can see it with a free trial evidently as I looked it up.

We all know what a thrill Route 66 was for us white folk, but back in the 1930s to 1970s it was a whole different thing for black motorists.  Something we overlooked but has since been brought to our attention thanks to the book about, and, of course that wonderful movie.

JUNE 10--  A vintage Firestone station in downtown Albuquerque has closed after being there at least since the early 1930s. It is at 7th Street and Central Avenue (Route 66)  

Here's hoping they are able to keep the building looking as it does.

--RoadDog

Along 66, February 2020: A Book On the Green Book

FEBRUARY 11--  Book review "Overground Railroad:  The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America" by Candacy Taylor.

When the Green Book was first published, half of the 89 counties Route 66 went through heading west were Sundown Towns (meaning Blacks had to be out of them before sundown).  Still, thirty-five percent of the counties did not allow black motorists after 6 p.m. in the 1950s.

Six of the eight Route 66 states had segregation laws.

Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, Missouri, once hosted a KKK rally.  A 260-mil stretch of 66 between Oklahoma City and Amarillo had no facilities for black motorists.  In 1947, there was only one motel listed in the Green Book, which showed Blacks where they could stay, eat and use the facilities.

Victor Hugo Green, a postal carrier in Harlem, began publishing the Green Book in 1936.

Sorry to say, Route 66, the Mother Road was a very segregated, anti-black road back then.  And, when we think of the joys of driving it, we need to know such was not the case for Blacks back then.

A much-needed book.  Thanks Candacy Taylor.

--RoadDog

Along 66, September 2018: New Oklahoma 66 Guide and the Black Experience

SEPTEMBER 21--  There is a new Oklahoma Route 66 Guide available.  It is put out by the Oklahoma Tourism Bureau.  More than 120 Route 66 attractions are highlighted.

And, i thought they already had a very good 66 guide.  Every state should have a guide and lots of signage for Route 66.

SEPTEMBER 22--  A new marker in Bloomington, Illinois, tells of Miller Park's role in the era of segregation.  The Blacks-Only beaches here were in very bad shape.

Again, the Black Route 66 Experience is an underwritten segment of our road;s history and I am so glad that more is being written about it.

So You Thought Segregation Was Only a Southern Thing.  --RoadDog

News From Along Route 66, August 2016: When Route 66 Was Segregated

These are from the Route 66 News site.  You can find more information and entries there.  I just write about ones that are of particular interest to me.

AUGUST 19--  Candacy Taylor has researched into the Negro Motorist Green Book, 1936-1966, and has tracked down surviving places of business and produced a video.

She found that Esso gas stations welcomed black travelers and hired blacks.  They also distributed the book.  Also, Harvey House Restaurants in the American southwest welcomed blacks.

She found a 1955 newspaper article that said that just 6 of 100 motels in Albuquerque allowed blacks to stay with them.  She even came across a whites only Coca-Cola machine.

Of 350 black businesses along Route 66 (the Green Book also covered other roads and towns), less than half are still there.

In 1950, six of the eight Route 66 states had some form of segregation.  In Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, racial segregartion was required by law.

Definitely An Aspect About Route 66 That Most Of Us Know Little About.  I Am Glad to See That It Is Finally Getting Written About After All These Years.  --RoadDog

Guide Books to Help Segregation-Era Blacks Travel-- Part 2

Today, the Hayes Motel is called the New Aster Motel and it still looks the same architecturally.

Black travelers knew they could spend a night there in their trip along Route 66 because of the publication called "The Negro Motorist Green Book.  The Hayes Motel was among the 224 Los Angeles hotels, barbershops, beauty salons, taverns, restaurants, motels and other places deemed friendly to blacks.

This is a part of Route 66 lore you rarely hear about, but a black family was refused service at a whole lot of places back then.

Los Angeles officials and the Getty Conservation Institute are hoping to lay the groundwork for the rehabilitation and protection of significant historic structures that catered to blacks from that sad era of American history.

Some Green Book places are still standing.

There is a large collection of Green Books from the various u\years it was published in the collection at the New York Public Library.

--RoadDog

Guide Books for Segregation-Era Blacks Traveling Across the Country-- Part 1

From the May 17, 2016, Los Angeles Times "This guidebook helped African Americans find a hotel along segregation-era Route 66" by Louise Sahagun.

A picture of the Hayes Motel shortly after it opened south of downtown  L.A. in 1947 accompanies tye article.  It was then sleek, modern and clean.  Sadly, that is not the case now.  Signs about the current property read "No Drugs.  No prostitution.  No Loitering, No trespassing."

Lily Ho now runs the old motor court in a distressed neighborhood at the corner of Wadsworth Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard.

The Hayes Motel back when it opened was a place where blacks could find a room.

So Sad What Has Happened to the Old Motel.  --RoadDg

The Black Experience of Route 66

I have been following with interest a discussion on the Yahoo Route 66 e-mail group's site (Jan. 23rd to today) about a Negro Dude Ranch on 66 out in Arizona. Unfortunately, it got hijacked into a discussion of movies filmed on Route 66.

This would be an interesting topic for a book on these almost seemingly forgotten travelers who had to put up with prejudicial treatment during 66s heydays. How did they cope? What did they experience? Would perhaps Missouri, being the most southern state along the route, be the most biased against them?

I have been involved with Route 66 since 2002 and have seen and heard very little on the black travelers.

Time for a Book. --RoadDog

Seabreeze Not the Resort it Once Was

From the June 27 2009 Wilmington Star News "Sea Breeze not the resort it once was, but the fishing remains" by Amy Hotz.

The small town of Sea Breeze is noted for its fresh fish and clams. It was established in the 1920s and soon became a favorite destination for black tourists since the other beaches were segregated and it was one of the few places they could go.

At one time, there were ten restaurants, several hotels (one of which was three stories tall) and many nightclubs and beach cottages. There was even an amusement park. The restaurants were well-known for their clam fritters.

The town is all but deserted today. The Civil Rights movement opened other beaches to blacks and the town began a slow decline. In 1996, Hurricane Fran wiped out most of the remaining structures.

Sad to see success destroy a historical town like this.

It was not on the ocean, but on the waterway near Snow's Cut. I have seen a sign for the town along US-421, but have never been to it. About twenty miles away, there was the Town of North Topsail which catered to blacks and was on the ocean. To the south, near Myrtle Beach, there was a black beach town called Atlantic Beach which is in similar decline.

That Sea Breeze. --RoadDog