Edward Is Everywhere

  Bridge #18, the Rock Creek Bridge on Route 66 in Oklahoma. This bridge once carried Route 66 and the Ozark Trail, now it is blocked off to traffic but you can walk across it.  An interesting thing about this bridge is that it has brick pavement on the deck.  Also of note is that it's a Parker Through Truss Bridge, if you care about bridge types.  On the right, you can see Route 66 heading towards the bridge.  This part of the road is closed to traffic.  Just in front of the bridge is an old, period appropriate pickup truck.    This area was recently redone, there is now a large parking lot and a plaza near it.  The plaza, on the left, has a orange and yellow covered pavilion in it. The address of the park is  13000 W. Ozark Trail, Sapulpa, OK.   A large tank with a flower painted on it and the words "Historic Route 66 * Sapulpa, OK".  This is behind some trees on the other side of the railroad tracks. This part of the former...

 Sapulpa is southwest of Tulsa along Route 66. It is close enough that you might consider it an exurb, but far enough that it has it's own distinct character. Lets start with a former gas station that looks like it has been repurposed as a church. The pump island is still there, as is the canopy over it, but there are no gas pumps.  The building has a coat of white paint with blue trim. and the word "Welcome" is painted on the blue double doors.  This is about halfway between Oakhurst and Sapulpa, and still has a Tulsa mailing address. 7010 Frankoma Rd. Frankoma Road is U.S. Route 66.   Sami's Southern Kitchen and More Sami's is a small restaurant at the edge of town just past the glass manufacturer. They advertise having just about everything, burgers, philly's, wings, shrimp, seafood, fish, steak, and even gumbo soup. 626 N Mission St. Ringmaster Meat Market Originally a Hudson Oil Co. Gas Station, this building has seen many uses over the years.  Route 66 t...

  Oakhurst, OK is a suburb at the edge of Tulsa, it seems to be in the process of being swallowed up.  Route 66 passes through it as a one-lane in each direction road alongside the railroad tracks.  Not much remains from the Rt-66 heyday except this long-closed service station. the canopy out front is where the gas pumps would be, but they don't remain. There is also a service bay on the right side.  According to Route 66 time s, this was the Oakhurst Garage and another time was "Turney's and Casey's filling station, garage, diner and cafe." Google maps link . Next stop: Sapulpa, OK ; Prior Stop: Tulsa Neon at Night . You can see all my Route 66 posts here .      

  Tulsa has a lot of neon on Route 66, it is something they encourage.  Here is the Meadow Gold District on 11th street just after sunset. Ike's Chili neon sign on the right, Red Light Chicken behind it, and, on the left, the famous Meadow Gold sign.  Then, there are a few signs that you can't really make out, Por Ella Route 66 on the far left, then, behind the Meadow Gold sign, also in green and yellow is Meadow Gold Shops and Lofts, and the vertical blue one is for "The Helen" a cafe/restaurant. The huge Meadow Gold : Milk, Ice Cream, Beatrice Foods Co sign is a historic advertising sign that used to be a little ways away, but when the building it was on was demolished they built a custom pavilion for the sign and moved it here. It is quite the visible landmark, day or night. El Rancho Grande Mexican Food has been here pretty much forever. It opened in 1950 then moved to this location on Route 66 in 1953.  The sign is lit every evening until the restaurant closes ...

  In Part 1 I focused on the portion of Route 66 on 11th street between South Peoria Avenue and South Lewis Avenue. This post will be about other Route 66 sights in Tulsa. Right in downtown Tulsa is the Blue Dome building. It headlines the Blue Dome Historic District .  To no ones surprise, the roof is a blue dome.  This used to be a Gulf Oil service station, second floor was used as office space and the residence for the manager was in the dome.  Route66Times has more about this . Blue Dome is on an earlier alignment of Route 66, the current road doesn't go by it. Sinclair service station This two-bay gas station was built in 1929 and is in the "Spanish Eclectic". The deep canopy goes out to the pump island, although the pumps are no longer there. After the gas station closed various other companies have occupied it, most recently Rossi Brothers Co, but I think they have moved one building down.  Hotel Campbell This opened as the Casa Loma Hotel. That hotel is...

  Tulsa, OK is one of the larger cities along Route 66. A lot of the ones I've been to had population in the single digit thousands, Tulsa has over 410 thousand people.  Even with the size, Route 66 is an core part of Tulsa's identity (and certainly more uplifting than the Tulsa race massacre ). For this post I'm going to concentrate on the portion of Route 66 on 11th street between South Peoria Avenue and South Lewis Avenue. This is just outside the core downtown area, but very much in the city. The best place to start is Bucks on 66, which is a restored 1950s PEMCO gas station that has been converted to a souvenir store. The owners really like giant muffler man statues, and the first one to see is Buck Atom, Space Cowboy. Unlike most muffler man statues you see, this one wsa custom designed and built. Stella Atom Space Cowgirl Stella Atom Space Cowgirl is another custom giant statue. She shares the parking lot with Buck Atoms. There is also Balony Maroney's food truc...