Interesting buildings

[SpecialK]

"Route 66" is the romanticized name given to Highway 66 which stretches from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles. In the 30's and 40's it was a main road for the migration of poor farmers from Oklahoma and other areas to the promising wealth of California. John Steinbeck wrote about this "Mother Road" and the migration of the Joad family in his novel "The Grapes of Wrath".

In the late 30's through the 60's, many service stations and restaurants sprang up along the highway. However, as new freeways were built, travel on "Route 66" died off, and many establishments closed down.

This was a Mohawk gas station, in Oro Grande, California.


Another dead building in Oro Grande.


Just up the road was William Potapov's "Bill's Service" in Oro Grande.


This was a cafe in Daggett, California.


Mugwumps service station is only a few buildings down the road.


Still in Daggett, this was the Sportsmans Club.


This former agricultural inspection station near Daggett is no longer used.


The Bagdad Cafe (formerly the Sidewinder Cafe) is actually located in Newberry Springs, California, and is doing good business partly because it was featured in the movie "The Bagdad Cafe" from 1988. They kept the name.


Roy's in Amboy, California is on a comeback as the whole town was recently purchased and is being renovated.


The Road Runner Retreat west of Chambliss, California. It was used in a car commercial in 1988, but it is fading back into the desert.

[SpecialK]

Sorry, I'm overflowing into another section...

The town of Ludlow has this nice cafe, open for business.


This was Carty's Camp in Needles, California. It is briefly shown in operation in the 1940 movie "The Grapes of Wrath".


If you look closely at the right side of the previous image, you will see the green-and-brown sign and arrow pointing toward the 66 Motel, still in business.


The Palms Motel is another landmark in Needles, and is still going as apartments.


In Golden Shores, Arizona, Linda's Cafe is closed today (Monday).


Hwy 66 winds through the hills into Oatman, Arizona, an old mining town, now a tourist attraction. This is the jail, built in 1936.


Coming out of the hills you will pass by Ed's Camp.


As nearly all desert establishments tend to do at one time or another, the original Cool Springs buildings burned down in 1966. It was resurrected in 2000.


McD's Diner in Kingman, Arizona.


Diagonally across the street from the McD's is The Powerhouse. It was built about 1905 and used as a powerhouse until 1938. After various uses, it was renovated into a Route 66 museum in 1997.

[reppans]

[hokeyguy]

[toriaj]

Love the night shot! Too bad the top of the spire didn't make it into the shot but I love the exposure.

[reppans]

Hey thanks Toriaj... much appreciated. They did a great job at lighting the buildings - it's in Zurich.

[JWilliams]

Beautiful shot.

[Packt]

Mont St. Michelle

[cat]

reppans - that's a cracking shot, your lighting is excellent.

Not terribly into buildings myself but had a play with this the other day..

[anco85]

Very nice picture cat, I just have one small gripe.

The sky looks abit over exposed. What ive found is that if you use the burn tool is ps to about 10% you can almost "get rid" of over exposure. But otherwise, I love it