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Showing posts from August, 2026

Route 66 neon at night, Tulsa, OK (Part 3)

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  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 ...

Route 66 in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Part 2)

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  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...

Route 66 in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Part 1)

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  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...