Cruising Through Oklahoma – Exploring Route 66 – Part 2 (Arcadia to Texola)
ARCADIA
The second half of our Oklahoma excursion starts in Arcadia. Here we checked off 2 more “must see” items on our Route 66 list – the Arcadia Round Barn and Pops Soda Ranch. The Round Barn was built by a local farmer in 1898 using native bur oak boards soaked while green and forced into the curves needed for the walls and roof rafters. This was a working barn used to store hay and as a work place for nearly a hundred years. In 1977 it was placed on the National Register of Historic places. Sadly, it was near collapse and a preservation group was eventually created to preserve the barn. Before work could begin, the roof collapsed in June of 1988. Restoration work was performed primarily by volunteers, many who were retirees, who called themselves the Over-the-Hill Gang. Today it sits along the roadside as one of the icons of Route 66. Just up the road is another Route 66 icon, the Pops Soda Ranch. Its hard to miss the large soda bottle out front (which lights up at night) and the retro canopy covering the gas pumps. The soda ranch and diner is a futuristic looking glass structure and the walls are lined with over 700 types of sodas and other beverages in glass bottles. Inside is a classic malt shop and diner with a counter and a handful of booths along with a futuristic convenience store. This is definitely a great place to explore and grab a bite to eat. Bring your appetite – we split a burger and onion rings and they were large portions and delicious! Highly recommend.
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- Edward Richardson Building in front of the Round Barn
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- Arcadia Round Barn
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- Arcadia Route 66 Informational Sign
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- Edward Richardson Building in front of the Round Barn
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- Large cantilever awning over gas pumps
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- The convenience store is futuristic looking
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- The glass walls are lined with over 700 types of sodas
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- Front wall of sodas by the convenience section
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- Front wall of sodas by the diner
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- Yacht Club Since 1915 Sakonnet River Grape Soda
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- Dr. Tima Honey Kola - All Natural from an old European recipe
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- Jack Black's Blood Red Cola scurvy dog - From Black's last raid
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- Cool Mountain Gourmet Soda - Orange
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- Texas Orang Dream Soda - Where Legends Live on - Dublin Bottling Works since 1891
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- Sof Drink - Jamaican Flavour Kola Champaign
OKLAHOMA CITY
Driving West to East thru Oklahoma City on Route 66 takes you through the Capitol building campus which gives spectacular views of the Capitol that was opened in 1917. The Capitol sits on the Oklahoma City Oil Field and has several active oil rigs on the property. The Tower Theater was built in 1937 and still retains its restored marquee and signage. Today it features a stage for live music as well as a screen for movies. The Gold Dome was built in 1958 and was the 5th building in the world to use the geodesic dome design. It was the first building to use anodized gold aluminum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Gold Dome is currently not in use but its still a Route 66 icon. On the original alignment of Route 66 through OKC sits the Braum’s Milk Bottle Grocery. Its a tiny, triangular building built in 1938 located on a small island among several streets. In 1948 the large, metal milk bottle was added to the top of the building making the “Triangle Grocery” a popular photo op. Smurf-vette also found herself in front of a large octopus mural. A few years ago I visited an iconic octopus mural in Bentonville, Arkansas and ever since then we’ve stumbled across several more worthy of photo ops.
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- Tower Theater
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- The Gold Dome
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- Braum's Triangle Milk Bottle Grocery
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- A random Octopus mural
YUKON
Yukon is home to Yukon’s Best Flour company. The grain elevator had a neon sign placed atop the roof (in the pic below its above the U in Yukon) in the mid 1940’s. In 2013 this 55 foot tall sign was refurbished and now uses LED lights instead of neon. The building also has a mural that reflects much of the history of Yukon, OK. We also found a mural of the Chisholm Trail depicting a longhorn cattle drive and one of my “must see” murals of a sunset along route 66 with birds, butterflies and flowers. While we saw many spectacular murals, this was Smurf-vettes favorite mural photo op of the entire trip.
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- Yukon's Best Flour Elevator
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- Yukon Mural
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- Chisholm Trail mural
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- Route 66 sunset, bird, butterflies and flowers mural
EL RENO
El Reno was another town of many great murals. One was the Crossroads of America mural which showed a classic red and white Corvette driving on Route 66. The Welcome to Historic Downtown El Reno had historic buildings, trolleys and train cars on it. A beautiful and touching tribute to our fallen soldiers depicts a burial at a National Cemetery including the playing of taps and the soldiers horse. The sign reads “dying for freedom isn’t the worst that can happen…being forgotten is. When the silence comes and the smoke clears, we will not forget.” Outside of town was a Giants Display – this muffler man art was conceived by a California-based artist who created cut-out paintings of several Route 66 Muffler Men (and woman) and erected along Route 66. They aren’t quite as powerful as seeing a “real” muffler man, but, they are fun nonetheless.
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- Crossroads of America
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- The Center Theater
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- Welcome to Historic Reno
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- Very old El Reno mural
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- Fallen Soldier memorial mural
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- Burial in a National Cemetery
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- The playing of Taps and soldiers horse
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- Historic El Reno mural with trolleys
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- Oklahoma sign with locks of love on it
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- American Giants Sculpture Island
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- Lumberjack Muffler Man
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- Uniroyal Gal
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- Gas Attendant with a busted kneecap
ELK CITY
The next few small towns after El Reno were scattered with random buildings in various states of abandonment and disrepair. Elk City has the Parker Drilling Rig #114 which stands at 181 feet (17 stories) making it one of the worlds tallest oil rigs. The rig was originally built in the 1960’s to drill shafts for underground nuclear testing and later was used for discovering oil. The King’s Inn appears to be a traditional motor inn that has been restored and is open for business. The Flamingo Inn is another classic roadside motel that is restored and open. The National Route 66 Museum has the worlds largest Route 66 sign out front and does not disappoint with a whopping 4 museums in 1 location: National Route 66 & Transportation, Farm & Ranch, Old Town, and Route 66 Blacksmith. A 14 foot tall Kachina Doll greets visitors at the museum entrance. Nearby is another museum, the Great Western Cattle Trail is a Farm and Ranch museum featuring a vast collection of tools, tractors, and farm equipment used in early farm and ranch life. A Blacksmith shop and windmill exhibit are among the many exhibits. There is also a Centennial Indoor Carousel at nearby Ackley Park.
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- Parker Drilling Rig #114
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- Binding Contract sculpture
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- A unique mural
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- The King's Motel
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- The Flamingo Inn
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- National Route 66 Museum - worlds largest Route 66 sign
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- National Route 66 Museum - 4 museums in 1
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- A Kachina Doll welcome
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- National Route 66 Museum - Faux Storefronts
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- National Route 66 Museum - Eddie's Diner storefront
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- Great Western Cattle Trail Museum & Sculptures
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- Great Western Cattle Trail Blacksmith Shop
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- Great Western Cattle Trail Windmills
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- Centennial Indoor Carousel
TEXOLA
The last town in Oklahoma on Route 66 is barely more than a ghost town but it does offer up a couple unique photo ops. There is a One Room Jail built in 1910 with an iron barred door and windows. Outside is a randomly placed tombstone-style memorial paying homage to the graduating high school class of 1938. Inside are displays about notorious outlaws. All-in-all, its a creepy stop! There is Will Rogers Highway marker outside of town (in the middle of nowhere at the edge of a field) that says at that location on June 26, 1952 Route 66 was rededicated as the Will Rogers Highway. This was one of many ceremonies that also took place on the other state lines of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
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- 1910 One Room Jail
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- "Tombstone" Honoring class of 1938
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- Interior of One Room Jail
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- Notorious Outlaws
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- Notorious Outlaws
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- Notorious Outlaws
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- Will Rogers Highway Marker
ONWARD TO TEXAS
Oklahoma had many unique sights to see along Route 66. To me, it is certainly much more interesting to see Oklahoma on Route 66 than via the Interstate where it feels like endless fields (I could say the same about Illinois too!). Next stop on our adventure is Texas where we take this trip to the Midway Point of Route 66 in Adrian, Texas. Stay tuned for the last posts in this series!