‘Whereas some companies have survived and thrived on the Mom Street, others are rusting ghost-town relics, however each are equally fascinating.’
So writes writer Pavilion of Route 66 Then and Now, which compares classic images of the US freeway with fashionable footage taken from the identical angle.
The e-book was written by creator and photographer Joe Sonderman, who has spent years amassing hundreds of postcards and archival pictures of Route 66.
It winds the clock again to the opening of Route 66 in 1926, exploring the way it linked Chicago with Los Angeles over 2,250 miles (3,621km) away – and breathed life into the small cities and companies alongside its path.
The freeway was made redundant by the revealing of the 1-40 in 1984, Sonderman reveals, however state associations quickly shaped to maintain Route 66 alive and kicking. Although lots of the landmarks alongside the way in which have fallen into disrepair, others have been preserved and restored to their unique glory.
‘Route 66 Then and Now highlights a few of the most well-known stop-offs alongside the route, displaying them of their prime and the way they appear at this time,’ the writer provides. Scroll all the way down to see a choice of mesmerising previous and new footage from the e-book…
MICHIGAN AVENUE, CHICAGO, THE START OF AN EPIC ROAD TRIP: The {photograph} on the left dates again to 1965 and was captured on the steps of the Artwork Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue – which lies proper reverse the official signpost marking the beginning of ‘Historic Route 66’ on East Adams Road. The route is carried out of Chicago by Ogden Avenue, which passes by way of the Cicero district, the previous house base of gangster Al Capone
CHICKEN BASKET, WILLOWBROOK, ILLINOIS: Forged your eye to the left and you may see the landmark Hen Basket Restaurant because it appeared in 1954. Situated at Route 66 and 74th road in Hinsdale, the eatery initially operated as a easy fuel station lunch counter. Nonetheless, the e-book reveals, when two native ladies gave proprietor Irv Kolarik a recipe for fried rooster, enterprise started to increase. To draw enterprise within the winter, Sonderman says that Kolarik used to flood the roof to create a short lived ice rink and rent skaters. Then Interstate 55 was constructed and the restaurant was left ‘remoted on a service highway’. The premises was purchased by Dell Rhea and his spouse for a ‘discount worth’ in 1963. The creator says: ‘They labored laborious to carry again the purchasers. Providing a few of the greatest fried rooster within the Chicago space, the restaurant is as common as ever.’ The unique signal nonetheless exists, although it was restored in 2017, we study
O’CONNELL’S SERVICE STATION, ODELL, ILLINOIS: Pictured to the left is O’Connell’s Service station in 1940, eight years after it was opened by Patrick O’Connell. At the moment, Sonderman says, the station stocked Phillips 66 fuel, a reputation impressed by Route 66. O’Connell designed the station to appear to be a home with a cover, hoping to ‘make prospects really feel at house’. Sonderman writes: ‘It grew to become a physique store in 1967, closed in 1975, and commenced to deteriorate alongside the previous highway.’ Fortunately, Odell’s residents grouped collectively to save lots of the service station, ultimately buying it in 1999. After being restored it now serves as a welcome middle, the creator provides
BRICK PAVEMENT, AUBURN, ILLINOIS: Going south from Springfield, heading west, Sonderman explains that the Route 66 traveller can select between driving alongside the trendy route, or taking the ‘extra scenic 1926-1930 route that zigs and zags by way of the cornfields and small cities to Staunton’. This route is pictured to the left in 1940. Ten years earlier than the {photograph} was taken, Route 66 was moved additional east, occupying completely different roadways. The creator reveals: ‘In 1931, after Route 66 was relocated, sections of the highway have been paved in brick to create jobs – and since a high-ranking politician owned a brick manufacturing unit.’ This part of brick pavement south of Chatham can nonetheless be pushed at this time on a route that’s now generally known as the IL 4
GATEWAY ARCH, ST LOUIS, A MONUMENT TO THOSE HEADING WEST: The picture on the left dates again to 1936, displaying the riverfront of the ‘Gateway to the West’ – St Louis. Although it was initially a busy hub crammed with steamboats, Sonderman reveals that the riverfront deteriorated by the mid-Thirties and it was subsequently cleared to make means for the Gateway Arch. Development started in 1959. The creator says: ‘The Gateway Arch, accomplished in October 1965, will all the time dominate the skyline of St Louis. An area ordinance says no constructing could be taller than the 630ft-tall, chrome steel landmark’
LA FONDA HOTEL, SANTA FE: Sonderman describes Santa Fe as ‘probably the most historic metropolis on the unique Route 66’. The {photograph} on the left depicts town’s La Fonda lodge again in 1930. Based on the creator, there was an inn – or a ‘Fonda’ in Spanish – on this nook since as early as 1607, however the present Pueblo Revival constructing was constructed in 1922. At one level, The Fred Harvey Firm made the lodge the headquarters for its ‘Indian Detours’, which opened the Southwest to tourism. Over time, the lodge has been frequented by celebrities together with John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, and several other company declare to have witnessed ghosts throughout their keep. The e-book provides: ‘The fully renovated luxurious lodge is now generally known as La Fonda on the Plaza, and household possession is dedicated to carrying on the 400-year custom of hospitality’
WIGWAM MOTEL, HOLBROOK, ARIZONA, ONE OF THREE SURVIVING WIGAM MOTELS: The picture on the left was snapped in 1950 and reveals the Wigwam Village Motel in Holbrook within the 12 months it was opened by one Chester Lewis. On the time it was the sixth wigwam motel in America (the nation’s grand complete peaked at seven). The ‘iconic’ tipi design was the work of Frank Redford, the e-book explains, who constructed them out of concrete. Redford gave Lewis the rights to the design ‘in change for the proceeds from the pay radios situated in every of the 15 items’, we’re advised. The Wigwam Village Motel closed in 1974 and Lewis offered the enterprise, the e-book says. He died in 1986 and his youngsters reopened the motel in 1988. ‘A part of the previous workplace now showcases Route 66, Civil Struggle, and Native American artefacts collected by Chester,’ the e-book explains. At present, it is one in every of three surviving Wigwam Motels within the US – the opposite two could be present in Rialto, California, and Cave Metropolis, Kentucky
COOL SPRINGS, ARIZONA: Cool Springs Camp, seen on the left in 1940, was opened in 1926 by N R Dunton, who linked the constructing to a spring utilizing a pipe, the e-book reveals. The then-gas station, which sits underneath ‘Squaw’s Teat’ mountain, was taken over in 1936 by a married couple who added the rock exterior. It was later bypassed by the brand new Route 66 roadway and have become a poultry ranch, solely to be left deserted fully within the 60s. It burned down in 1966. Sonderman says: ‘Hollywood got here calling in 1991 and producers constructed a fuel station from the ruins simply to blow all of it up for a scene within the film Common Soldier.’ Ned Leuchtner purchased what remained of the premises in 2002 and has since turned it right into a ‘nifty present store and a mini museum’, he provides
HORSESHOE CURVE, GOLD ROAD, ARIZONA: Look to the left and you may see a postcard courting again to 1928, displaying the horseshoe curve close to the previous mining city of Gold Street. ‘It was a white-knuckle drive for drivers who got here from again East,’ declares Sonderman of the roadway. Motorists travelling alongside Outdated Route 66 would ascend the three,550ft (1,082m) excessive Sitgreaves Go and drive down by way of Gold Street – till it was bypassed in 1952. The creator states: ‘The twisting and turning highway was so difficult that service stations would cost a hefty price to tow timid drivers over the cross. Within the days of gravity-fed carburettors, it wasn’t uncommon to fulfill a neighborhood driving up the hill backwards’
PIER, SANTA MONICA: The snapshot on the left reveals the pier in 1941. It opened in 1909 having been constructed to carry sewage out to the ocean. ‘Route 66 ends over the Pacific Ocean on Santa Monica Pier, and the previous few yards should be made on foot,’ says Sonderman. He reveals that ‘the bureaucrats decreed that US highways should finish at one other US route, so 66 formally ends at Alternate US 101’ – a ‘nondescript intersection’. Nonetheless, Santa Monica Pier is the symbolic finish of the route, he provides. On Route 66’s 83rd birthday, Dan Rice put in an ‘Finish of the Path’ signal on the pier exterior his 66-to-Cali retailer – ‘a extra applicable spot to ponder the journey’
Route 66 Then and Now by Joe Sonderman is printed by Pavilion, priced £14.99