Showing posts with label Harvey House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harvey House. Show all posts

Friday, July 27, 2018

Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66: Part 12, Las Vegas, New Mexico

Santa Fe was very interesting. But it is time to continue our trip on Route 66. Press the clutch, put the gear in first, and head southeast.
Bridge Street, Las Vegas, New Mexico
Las Vegas (the town in New Mexico, not the gambling mecca of Nevada) is east of Santa Fe and was not directly on the 1920s version of Route 66. But a short side trip is rewarding because of its amazing western architecture. The town of Las Vegas was founded in 1835, but the area had been inhabited for four centuries by native Americans, Anglos, Spanish conquistadores, robber barons, and gangsters. The town is an architectural treasure, and boasts more than 900 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
Prosperity came to Las Vegas in the late 1800s via the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, which built significant rail infrastructure in town. This included a handsome mission-style depot. This now serves as the Las Vegas-San Miguel Chamber of Commerce.
The now-closed La Castaneda is a former Harvey House (hotel). This is described as early mission revival style. The Harvey Houses were a well-respected institution along the rail lines in the US southwest. According to Wikipedia,

Before the inclusion of dining cars in passenger trains became common practice, a rail passenger's only option for meal service in transit was to patronize one of the roadhouses often located near the railroad's water stops. Fare typically consisted of nothing more than rancid meat, cold beans, and week-old coffee. Such poor conditions understandably discouraged many Americans from making the journey westward.
The subsequent growth and development of the Fred Harvey Company was closely related to that of AT&SF. Under the terms of an oral agreement, Harvey opened his first depot restaurant in Topeka, Kansas in January 1876. Railroad officials and passengers alike were impressed with Fred Harvey's strict standards for high quality food and first class service. As a result, AT&SF entered into subsequent contracts with Harvey wherein he was given unlimited funds to set up a series of what were dubbed "eating houses" along most of the route. At more prominent locations, these eating houses evolved into hotels, many of which survive today. By the late 1880s, there was a Fred Harvey dining facility located every 100 miles along the AT&SF.

Manu of the Harvey Houses featured spectacular architecture. The El Rancho in Gallup, where I stayed on my 2016 Route 66 trip, was not a Harvey House.
Many of the old stores on Bridge Street have been repainted, but I am not sure how many are occupied. 
In the southeast part of town, off US 85, also known as the CanAm Highway, I found an intact roundhouse. Many of these around the country have been town down, so it is rewarding to see an intact example. The turntable was gone. I think a trucking company used the roundhouse for truck storage.

Las Vegas was a decent overnight stop. From here, we proceeded south and then east on Route 66.

Photographs are from an Fujifilm X-E1 digital camera with various Fuji lenses.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66 - Part 2, Central California

We continue our tour on the Mother Road, Route 66. Once you leave the Los Angeles valley and rise out of Cayon Pass on Interstate 15, you are in the Mojave Desert. The towns along I-15 still have the ubiquitous California urban sprawl, but there is undeveloped desert between them.
Route 66 is also known as the National Trails Highway in central California. About 15 miles from Cajon Pass, the National Trails Highway diverges north away from I-15 at Victorville. Drive north a few miles and you reach Oro Grande. There is not much to downtown Oro Grande other than an old-fashioned business block, but it contained an active restaurant and a couple of gift shops.
Salvaged & Tattered, at 19248 National Trails Highway, was open. Songs by Edith Piaf emerged from the door - what, Piaf in the desert of California? Interesting place; the charming proprietor graciously let me take a photograph in her store. She said many Europeans stopped at the store, and a surprising number did the trip both directions. They rented a car in Chicago, drove to Santa Monica, and then turned around and drove back on 66. She said she had also met Europeans who bought a high-horsepower American muscle car, did the 66 trip both directions, and then shipped their car home as a used car. Some people do interesting things....
Just north of Oro Grande, I passed a field with some old cars. By chance, a fellow was at the gate waiting for someone to let him in. The lady who came to the gate said I was welcome to photograph this handsome Hudson Statesman Custom. Her uncle or dad(?) was restoring it - one day. They really made massive cars in the 1940s.
A few miles further northeast, near Lenwood, I came across the abandoned Dunes Motel, at 23135 Main Street. The palms really needed pruning. Many odd birds lived in the foliage. I watched for snakes because I was wearing sandals.
I doubt anyone will ever use the Dunes again. Possibly it had been modified to serve as apartment units.

The National Trails Highway turns east, running north of I-15. We enter Barstow, which was a major mining and transportation center starting in the 1800s. It was on the Old Spanish Trail from Santa Fe as well as the Mormon Road from Salt Lake City. Barstow became a major rail center for the Santa Fe railroad as well as a stopover for Route 66 travelers.
And who could resist stopping at the famous ElRancho Motel? The signs tell you how far it is to various popular cities, including Cairo and Jerusalem (Route 66 goes that far?). A tenant who spoke to me emphasized that Marilyn Monroe stayed there.
Downtown Barstow is rather uninspiring, despite many attempts to link contemporary stores with Route 66.
The Route 66 Mother Road Museum is located in the historic Barstow Harvey House hotel. The hotel has been restored and is used for formal events and graduations. The National Park Service has a description of the Harvey House and other sites along Route 66. Amtrak's Southwest Chief train stops here. My daughter took the Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles many years ago but may have slept through Barstow.
The Western America Railroad Museum is next to the depot. Unfortunately, you can't go into the locomotives, but there is still plenty to see.

We will continue our Mother Road expedition in future updates. Please stay tuned and thanks for reading. These photographs are from a Fuji X-E1 digital camera with the in-camera monochrome setting. I used a polarizing filter on many exposures to emphasize the dark sky.