Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Sheldon “Red” Chaney (1916-1997) opened what would become a highly popular restaurant along the portion of U.S. Highway 66 (Route 66) in Springfield, Missouri. He and his wife Julia Elizabeth Etter Chaney (1914-2006) moved to Springfield not long after he completed his military service during World War II. As a new resident of Springfield, Red... Continue Reading →
In the years since it became one of the original routes of the U.S. Numbered Highway System, U.S. Route 66 (US 66) has left an enduring and unrivaled cultural imprint. Journalist and historian Michael Wallis (born in 1945) summarized this legacy in his 1990 best-selling book Route 66: The Mother Road. “Route 66,” Wallis noted... Continue Reading →
Only about two years after being built and opened along U.S. Route 66 (US 66) in the settlement of Grants Station (now the city of Grants) in the west-central part of New Mexico, a Standard Oil Company gas station was moved approximately 29 miles (46.7 kilometers) southeast to the community of Thoreau in the state... Continue Reading →
In central Illinois, operations began for the Standard Oil Gasoline Station in the southwest part of the village of Odell. This station is located along US Route 66 (US 66) – known far and wide today as simply Route 66 – and it was constructed by Irish-born building contractor Patrick O’Donnell to serve people driving... Continue Reading →
