Route 66 - McLean to Groom

McLean, the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by I-40, used to be known as "Uplift City" for the large Sears brassiere factory which used to employ a good percentage of the area residents. The factory is long gone now, but the building was renovated to now house the Devil's Rope Museum. After leaving the former bra factory/Devil's Rope Museum, we drove around McLean a little bit to see more of this small town filled with so many remains of its former glory days. It was time well spent.

I believe this is the former Texas Motel &
Restaurant, but we didn't see "Texas" on any
of the signs. If buildings could tell their stories...





On the east side of McLean. Quiet, haunting -
no sounds except the breeze gently
rustling the weeds.

West of McLean, the land becomes even more arid, with pointy plants and prairie grass growing on the rolling hills eroded by the occasional gully. Seven miles away lies the almost ghost town of Alanreed. Along the stage line from Mobeetie to Clarendon in the early 1880's, a contingent of farmers decided it would be a good site for a town. In 1884, the company they formed began to sell lots. The resulting town went by several different names over the years - Springtown, Spring Tank, Prairie Dog Town, Rusty Shanks and Gouge Eye. Gouge Eye? This particular name arose after a cowboy got into a bar fight and his eye was gouged. A few days later, two of the cowboy's friends were eating in a local restaurant and they persuaded a passing traveler that fallen grapes from the buffet were actually eyes that had been gouged out during the brawl.


Maintained by the Texas Historic Route 66
Association is the restored Bradley Kiser 66
Super Service Station from 1930. This is the
crown jewel of Alanreed.

In 1900 when the railroad was built a few miles south of Gouge Eye, the town decided to up and move to where the railroad was. A surveying firm, Alan and Reed, was hired to lay out the new town and in late 1900, a real estate company began selling land for $2.25 per acre.  The town was given the name of Alanreed in honor of the surveyor partners.

In almost no time the town took off. The first school was opened just 1 year later and a post office was opened soon after. By 1903, Alanreed had become a major shipping point for cattle and was the largest town in the county. With the arrival of Route 66, the town's glory days had arrived with numerous businesses and over 500 residents. After several unsuccessful bids to become the county seat though, the population began to decline. It wasn't long before the bank and hotel had closed and the school was consolidated with 3 other nearby districts. The post office closed in 1955 and today, the population is listed as 48, but it certainly appeared to be fewer than that as we passed through.
 

The 1904 Baptist church in Alanreed - the oldest
surviving church on Route 66 in Texas

Just west of Alanreed lies a famous 18-mile long stretch of Route 66. Known as the Jericho Gap, this was the last section of The Mother Road to be paved in Texas. After a rain, the black gumbo dirt road became a slippery, gooey car-trapping mud-bath. Car tires spun, mud balled up under the fenders and if your car fell into the deep ruts, you were stuck there until someone pulled you out. Farmers made a few extra bucks pulling the cars out of the quagmire with their tractors or a team of mules. For years, stories were told about  enterprising farmers all along the Jericho Gap who in the middle of the night would bring mule-drawn water tanks on wheels to fill up the ruts with water and ensure continued income from the next day's travelers. It was never proven, but it was noted that almost every single farmer along the Gap owned one of those water tanks on wheels and the road was often inexplicably muddy in sections even during the hot dry days of summer. After the road was re-located and paved, there also seemed to be a glut of water tanks for sale!

Along the roadway near the infamous Jericho Gap.
The actual muddy road sections are now 
inaccessible or located on private property.

Continuing our westward journey, Youngest-daughter and I arrived in Groom as the sun was sinking below the horizon. It made for some wonderful picture taking opportunities, but I can't take any credit for planning it as the whole trip we were just driving and stopping to see whatever we wanted for as long as we wanted and stopping for the night when it got dark. If you ever get to take a Route 66 Road Trip, I strongly suggest you follow this method. People who drive as fast as they can, stopping only long enough to take a few pictures out of the car window, are not true travelers and they really can't say they've "seen" anything. Doing anything other than taking your time along the Mother Road is a waste of time.

Platted in 1902, Groom, located 42 miles east of Amarillo, was named for Colonel B.B. Groom, an English-born cattleman who imported shorthorn and Angus cattle into the area. It became a railroad shipping point for area ranching and agriculture. The population slowly grew until the early 1970's when there were over 800 residents. The town began to decline and the population began to slowly move west to Amarillo for better business opportunities until now there are a little over 500 people who call it home.


Leaning water tower along Route 66 in the
plains of the Texas Panhandle

It's almost impossible to miss the famous leaning water tower coming into town. Originally, it was a functioning water tower, but it was slated for demolition. Ralph Britten purchased it and moved it close to his truck stop as an advertising gimmick. Many stories have been told about this water tower - a tornado almost blew it over; a sink hole opened up under one of the legs; some high school kids hooked up their cars one night and tried to pull it over as a prank - but none of those are true I'm kind of sad to say. The truth is Ralph installed it leaning to the side like it is simply to attract attention to his business located behind the tower. Tons of concrete buried underground offsets the weight distribution to keep it steady. The tower has now outlasted the truck stop which suffered a fire years ago and has been boarded up and vacant ever since. Every year at Christmas, the town tops the leaning water tower with a lit up star.



The 190-ft cross in Groom, Texas

Also in Groom is a 19-story tall cross which can be seen for 20 miles. Surrounding the base of the 190-ft free-standing cross are life-sized statues of the "Stations of the Cross." We pulled in here just as the sun was finally setting. It was a perfect way to end the day.
 

Back on the road heading for Amarillo and a
place to lay our heads for the night,
Youngest-daughter took one last picture of the
gorgeous Texas sunset.

 

 

Go to the first Route 66 entry here.

Or go to the first entry of each state:

Illinois   Missouri   Kansas   Oklahoma   Texas   New Mexico   Arizona   California 

Route 66 - Devil's Rope

The entrance to the Devil's Rope & Route 66
Museums in McLean, Texas

With the sun verging on hanging low to let us know the day was almost done, we pulled into the town of McLean and easily found our destination - The Devil's Rope Museum.

In 1901, Alfred Rowe, an English Rancher, donated land near a railroad cattle loading stop for the establishment of a town. The railroad dug a water well and built a section house there and the town began to grow. Within a couple of years, the citizens had chosen the name of McLean for their town in honor of Judge William McLean who served in the Texas Legislature and on the Railroad Commission. By 1912 when Rowe died in the sinking of the Titanic, the town had been incorporated and had become home to over 1,000 people. By 1927 when Route 66 was built through town, there were about 1,200 citizens. McLean's population temporarily tripled from 1942 until 1945 when the Army built a POW camp for 3,000 German prisoners. In 1984, the town was bypassed by the newly constructed I-40 and with the prominence of Amarillo and Pampa surpassing McLean, the population began to decline from 1,600 to the current 800.

In early 1990, barbed wire collectors attending a show in Dodge City, Kansas discussed establishing a museum for barbed wire. People took the discussion seriously and by August of that same year, an old building in McLean, Texas was selected. A contract was signed and building renovation work began. The Historical Museum of Barbed Wire and Fencing Tools Organization was chartered as a tax-exempt, non-profit organization and it drew many barbed wire collectors from around the country and even the world as its members.

The Texas Route 66 Museum in the same building
as the Devil's Rope Museum in McLean, Texas

In January, 1991, the Old Route 66 Association of Texas received its tax-exempt, non-profit charter from the state and the 2 organizations soon began to work together to establish 2 museums in the same building. Members of both organizations provided all of the financing, labor, and artifact donations to set up the museums after the building had been renovated. The Devil's Rope Museum and the Texas Route 66 Museum both opened to the public on March 23, 1991. Today, the Devil's Rope Museum is known as the largest collection of barbed wire and fencing tools in the world and the Texas Route 66 Museum is billed as the first Route 66 museum actually on Old Route 66.

Inside the Devil's Rope Museum. This is
a LARGE building!

OK, so now you ask, "How was it? Should I stop there?" Well, if you are really interested in barbed wire or if you are hitting every Route 66 museum along your road trip, then yes, you definitely should stop. The building is very large and the admission is free so the price is right. While we were there, a really nice elderly lady was at the front counter - a nicer, friendlier person you could not find. We stopped to chat after touring the museums and she seemed to have a permanent smile on her face. I dropped a few bucks into the donation jar and she was very appreciative. Such a sweet lady. But hundreds of samples of barbed wire - really? There are people out there who collect all kinds of things and far be it from me to make light of anything harmless that gives somebody happiness in their life - more power to them. Let's just say that for me, strictly my opinion here, even as well as the museum of barbed wire was laid out and with the astounding amount of artifacts collected there, I mean, it was still barbed wire! Pretty exciting stuff only if compared to watching paint dry or grass grow. I kept wondering, "Why?" However, according to that sweet little old lady, almost 100,000 visitors from all over the world each year come to see this place. I gotta be missing something. If you are a barbed wire enthusiast, please let me know so I can quite thinking about this and get some sleep!

Barbed Wire Bunny

Barbed wire cowboys.



Is there anything more useless than a barbed wire
cowboy hat? I pondered this for a while and couldn't
come up with anything.

 

Go to the first Route 66 entry here.

Or go to the first entry of each state:

Illinois   Missouri   Kansas   Oklahoma   Texas   New Mexico   Arizona   California 

 

Route 66 - Texas!

Entering the great state of Texas on Route 66.
On the other side of this sign is the
Texas Panhandle.

Just a few miles beyond the town center of Texola, Youngest-daughter and I crossed over into the Lone Star State. Texans claim the pearly gates of heaven are locked not to keep bad people from getting in, but to keep Texans from sneaking out to go back home! We agree with that statement and the fact that we are 4th & 5th generation Native Texans is pure coincidence!

When there is no river or other natural border to mark the changing of a state boundary, you can usually cross from one state to the other without even noticing. Not here though. Almost immediately after entering Texas, the land changes from the rolling, wooded hills of Oklahoma to the open, flat, treeless plains and wide open spaces of the Texas Panhandle. It's as if the state line just naturally belongs right here. Back in the day, this was a dangerous land; not the place for your horse to pull up lame or for your old truck to throw a rod on the way with your wife and little ones to California. This is a land where you either accept it, give in to its stark beauty, openness and dangers and fall in love with it or hurry as quickly as possible across it to an easier region.

Early travelers were so convinced they were in danger of becoming permanently lost that they drove wooden stakes into even the smallest rise to point the way. Riders coming up from the south came upon these markers and named the region Llano Estacado - the Staked Plain.

There were originally 178 miles of Route 66
across Texas, but about 25 of them are dirt
and no longer open for travel. This is right
on the state line.

Of course, crossing this 150+ miles is so much easier and safer now, with reliable transportation and cell phones in every one's hands. I strongly suggest you stay on Route 66 instead of the boring, boring, boring I-40, pull off a time or two in an old, out-of-the-way place, turn off your car and get out for a spell. Walk away from the safety of your auto and the road to whatever spot calls to you. Clear your mind and just listen to the wind, the ever present wind, and soon you will start to feel what the early travelers felt and maybe you'll get to know just a little something about this land. Maybe you will start to like it more than you thought or maybe you will be eerily unnerved and want to quickly scurry along. Either way, I think you will remember it.

A few miles into Texas and the first town you come to is Shamrock. Originally named Wheeler, George Nichols emigrated from Ireland and began a sheep farm. He named his homestead Shamrock to remind himself of his roots. When the railroad constructed a stop here, it took up the name and the town began calling itself Shamrock also. It was officially incorporated under that name in 1911. When the paving of Route 66 was completed in Shamrock on St. Patrick's Day in 1938, the town held a parade. The event has become an annual tradition now, during which, for 1 day, all of the town's citizens become Irish.

Piece of the Blarney Stone in Elmore Park

To cement the Irish ties, a piece of the original Blarney Stone was brought from Blarney Castle in Cork County, Eire and permanently placed on a stand in Elmore Park in March, 1959 (N35 12 51.0 W100 14 43.2). The park is not exactly on Route 66, but nothing in Shamrock is very far from the Mother Road and we found it to be an interesting little side trip. The park is in the middle of a small, blue-collar, but mostly well maintained neighborhood. There were a few children running around the park when we pulled in and adults sitting on several porches were keeping an eye on them and us as we parked. I took several pictures and the bravest little girl of the bunch, I would guess about 6 years old, shyly walked up and asked what I was doing. I told her I was here to take pictures of "that rock over there." I asked her if she knew what it was and she said,  It's the Barney Stone from Eye-land." Trying really hard not to laugh about "the Barney Stone," I asked her if she knew what that means, she turned and as she walked away, said, "It's a special rock that was on TV. Bye!" I liked her description better than the historical one.

Blarney Stone or "Barney Stone?"

Shamrock has numerous old service stations, motels, and cafes - remnants left from the times when shiny new Studebakers rolled out of the factory in Indiana and their owners drove them through here stopping for food, gas, and a night's lodging. One such place you shouldn't miss is the famous U-Drop Inn/Tower Conoco at the junction of Route 66 and Hwy 83. Opened in 1936 to meet the traveler's needs, the facility has changed hands a number of times. It's Art Deco design was conceived by John an original co-owner who sketched the design in sand with a nail for the construction crew to follow. After the restaurant opened, it was described as "the swankiest of the swank eating places."  Both the restaurant and the service station served customers until the mid-1990's. Today, the building has been restored and houses offices of the Chamber of Commerce. If possible, you should stick around after dark to see the dazzling neon which outlines the spires of the building.


U Drop Inn/Tower Conoco in Shamrock, Texas

As we were continuing west out of Shamrock, we came across a "Texas Stop Sign," a Dairy Queen right there in town. If you want some good fast food, you can't go wrong with a DQ Steak Finger Basket - steak fingers, french fries, a cup of white gravy, 2 slices of Texas Toast and a big drink of sweet iced tea. We couldn't pass it up. It may not have been the healthiest food we could have had, but life ain't worth living if you can't splurge every once in a while! We headed on down the road through the wide-open Texas plains to our next destination, McLean, with full, happy tummy's. The Devil's Rope Museum is in McLean and we were going to see it.

Go to the first Route 66 entry here.

Or go to the first entry of each state:

Illinois   Missouri   Kansas   Oklahoma   Texas   New Mexico   Arizona   California