How long's it been since you saw a Dairy Queen sign like this one? The DQ is right by the interstate, and they do have a more modern sign that you can see from a distance, if you're planning to stop. Dairy Queens seem to be abundant out here. Dean maintains that it's because there's not much for kids to look at to keep them occupied, so ice cream is the next best thing.
Holbrook must have been a Route 66 boom town at one time. Look how many great old motel signs there are:
I think most of these have survived because the Interstate didn't exactly by-pass Holbrook--it sort of skirted it. So they were still able to get business from the travelers.
This is by far my favorite motel on all of Route 66--
It's the Wigwam Motel.
"Have You Slept in a Wigwam Lately?" I love it.
The 15 motel rooms are all wigwams. Those are vintage cars parked in front of some of the wigwams.
Their construction is steel frame, covered in wood, felt, and canvas, with a stucco exterior. They are 14 feet in diameter, and 32 feet tall. Don't they look great?
I got just a glance inside one. I saw a bed on either side of the room, and the bathroom directly in the back. The windows on either side are diamond shaped.
The motel office was also a service station back in the day. More vintage cars here. There were 7 of these lovely places at one time. Only two remain today, this one and one in San Bernardino, CA.
The slightly smaller wigwams flanking the office were once the rest rooms for the service station. The Wigwam Motel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Check their website if you are interested in staying there.
Oh, yeah. Their neon works, too. Just in case you haven't realized it yet, this is the place that Disney's Cars modeled their Cozy Cone Motel after. Cool, huh?
Somebody had to feed all those travelers. There are a few cafes and eateries still show some vintage styling.
Joe & Aggies Cafe is a mom and pop style place, supposedly the oldest in Holbrook.
They want to make sure you know where you are. I love the fact that the Barber Shop is in the shed in the back.
This is a repurposed sign. It once belonged to the Western Motel. The cowboy is original.
And he still lights up, just as he should.
There also had to be service stations to sell gasoline to all these travelers. Unfortunately, these old buildings haven't fared so well in Holbrook. We didn't find many. This one stood out, though.
The Muffler Shop is what was once a Mobil Station. It has a Streamline Moderne style. I like the rounded office section. The service bays are drive-throughs.
There are also a few other period signs and businesses:
I'm sure this wasn't a chiropractor's office in the beginning, but the building still shows it's simple deco style. There are plenty of places like this in Holbrook.
Holbrook is on the edge of petrified wood territory, and there's a stiff competition for rock shopping tourists, apparently. This place has been around for quite awhile. It used to be a motel with a rock shop attached. Rock business must have been good, because the rooms were converted to accommodate a larger shop.
Here's the major competitor.
This is the Rainbow Rock Shop. You almost can't see the sign for the dinosaurs.
But there are plenty of rocks here. This is all petrified wood.
You can also get geodes for $.80 each. If you can get past the dinosaurs, that is.
There are plenty of those here, too.
These dinos are all hand-made by the owner, Adam Luna. Wonderfully wacky.
Besides rocks and dinosaurs, Holbrook is also known for its railroad station, and for the annual Hashknife Pony Express run (more on this later). All of these things seem to be celebrated in a little park in town. There's a wonderful mural on a wall across the way from the park itself.
The train and station are on the left. The pony express riders are in the center.
You can see the hand-off of the letter packet in this zoom. (Sorry about the truck. We waited, but it didn't move.)
The park itself has the requisite grass, tables, and benches, even a live tree or two. Then it also has these.
This is beautiful example of a petrified tree.
This is a second one they have in the park.
You can clearly see the grain of the wood, and even tell where the rings were.
And the backside shows the bark beautifully. Petrified wood forms when wood is buried in sediment. It's preserved by the lack of oxygen. As mineral-rich water flows through the sediment, minerals are deposited in the cells of the wood. Then, as the plant's lignin and cellulose decay, a stone mold is formed in its place. It's common to be able to distinguish the plant's original structure, sometimes right down to the microscopic level.
The most common mineral deposits are silicates, such as quartz. Quartz itself is clear, but when contaminants get mixed in, you get a variety of colors. Here are sources of the different colors in petrified wood:
Black--carbon or manganese oxides
Green/Blue--cobalt, chromium, or copper
Red/Brown/Yellow--iron oxides
Pink/Orange--manganese
Red, brown, and yellow are the most common colors in Arizona's petrified wood. Green and blue are the most rare colors to find.
We saw a good bit of petrified wood while we were in this area, but none any better than these two logs in the little park in the heart of Holbrook. We also had our first close encounter with a dinosaur there.
This little lady seems to be protecting her eggs. I'm not sure that was the original intention--those are rocks, after all. Any child playing could have put them there. But I think it's a good picture. A little reminiscent of Jurassic Park. This dino isn't too tall either--maybe 6 feet--so it's just right for photo ops.
Since rocks, petrified wood, and even geodes are so abundant, of course they become building materials.
Isn't this wall magnificent? It's mostly petrified wood and geodes. I'm sure I could spend an hour just studying the stones in here.
These are little, old, rock houses. I wonder how long they've been there.
And here's a wonderful example of mixed styles. Stone on the side, art deco on the front. Perfect.
Holbrook's Santa Fe Depot was in use from 1888 to 1968.
The historic depot is currently being renovated.
The depot was built in two parts. Originally, there was only the freight depot.
The smaller passenger depot was added later, almost as an afterthought. The 2 sections have very different styles.
The back of the depot has as much style as the front. I wish everyone would design buildings this way.
This is the sign on the corner at the back of the station. See the street sign? There has to be a story there.
We found this across from the station--
Apparently this is the home of the Hashknife Gang, Navajo County Sheriff's Posse. This is the outfit that still runs the mail by Pony Express every year. Every January for the last 50 years, these guys have ridden 200 miles from Holbrook to Scottsdale carrying official U. S. Mail. This is the oldest sanctioned Pony Express Run in the country. Visit their site to learn more. Maybe you can get your letter on the next run.
And just for a little bit of fun before we leave Holbrook, we saw these little charmers.
A lovely Beatle Limo. It doesn't look like it's gotten much use lately. And then my personal favorite--
The classic Beatle Camper. I really wanted to stop and see if this one was for sale, but I wasn't sure how we'd get it home. Wonderful. I'll say it again, I love Americans' senses of humor.
We left Holbrook and went on to take lots more pictures on Thursday. I'll get more of them posted tomorrow. See you then.
3 comments:
very nice, and yes there is a story behind the street named "bucket of blood." It was the name of an old saloon on that street. I very much liked your blog of my home town, thank you! Jeff Hill Mayor Holbrook, Az. :-)
I used to live in Holbrook when I went to school at the Northland Pioneer Collage campus and these photos brought back memories. I actually rented a room at the Pow Wow Motel way back when it was still open as a motel. Thanks for the nostalgic ride through town.
Holbrook is everything you write about and more. Before the saloon was named the Bucket of Blood it was the Cottage.
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