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Hydro Area |
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Hydro Area |
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Route 66 winds through the Oklahoma countryside giving glimpses of past glory along the nation's main street like this old steel truss bridge outside of Hydro. Hydro was founded in 1901 and was named for the fine well water of the area. The Hydro area is dependant on agriculture today, but once it supplemented its economic base by servicing the Route 66 traveler. It still lives though, the close proximity of the Interstate helps somewhat though not like Route 66 did. | |||
| Hydro, Oklahoma is the home of Lucilles. This classic old gas station is only one of two out-thrust porch/live over style stations left on Oklahoma's Route 66 today. It is also the childhood home of my very good friend Cheryl Nowka. She's the daughter of Lucille Hamons ~ the Mother of the Mother Road. Lucille's was established right on Route 66 in 1941 and a nation on the move has passed right by this old station. Cheryl has told me stories of her childhood growing up above the gas pumps and for me this was a special stop. I could imagine a young Cheryl Nowka around getting into all sorts of mischief here. The more I travel up and down Route 66 the more I realize that the Mother Road community is one big family ~ sometimes dysfunctional ~ but one big family non-the-less. |
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One other stop I just had to make was to visit the memorial to another road friend who tragically lost her life in an auto accident two years ago. Cheryl Cory will not be forgotten. She was a true roadie. She was such a friend to all up and down Route 66 that we thought that a memorial to her across the street from Lucilles would be fitting. Lucilles was one of her favorite places and she and Lucille Hamons were good friends. As I stood before this small wooden cross, I silently reflected on my friends that have moved on to that never ending highway. I felt strangely at peace. This is all part of life, part of a bigger grand scheme. And don't you think life itself is much like a highway, always moving on, hopefully to better places? |
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| Weatherford was founded in 1893 and named for William Weatherford, US Territorial Marshal. Like Hydro, Weatherford is an agricultural trading center. That's fancy talk for a farming community. The main street is old Route 66 and many of the buildings date back to the early part of the twentieth century. It was a fairly sizable town with all the tourist accommodations when Jack Rittenhouse passed through back in 1946. Weatherford is the birthplace of astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, commander of the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission. |
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As I headed west out of Weatherford I found this old drive-in movie theater. It is still in operation, one of the few left. Sitting in your car on a warm summer night under a starry sky, a coke and some popcorn in hand, watching (at least you're supposed to be watching) a movie, how nostalgic can that be? Near the drive-in a colorful trading post sign can be seen by Interstate drivers. This sign follows a grand tradition. Signs like this once dotted the countryside along Route 66 and other two-lanes, enticing the road wanderer to stop for a while and explore all the unique attractions to be seen. | |||
Photographs Taken May, June 2003
Click on an area or city of Route 66 on the map below to take a cyber tour of that section of the Mother Road |
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NAVIGATION NOTE: Buckle up and hold on to your mouse! These pages are arranged like the map above, from the western state border to the eastern state border. I have set up this site as if you were traveling from EAST to WEST, much like the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath. You can click on the Route 66 shields to "travel" the Mother Road in either direction though. Or you can select any shield below to take you to that specific state. |
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