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Free Water: Essex, California |
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Ten miles down the road from Goffs on the old pre-1931 alignment of Route 66 the old road rejoins the National Old Trails Highway at Essex. Jack Rittenhouse, author of the 1946 Guidebook to Route 66, described Essex as a small Mojave Desert community that chiefly served the needs of the tourists. Essex once provided towing services, gas stations, markets and cafes to the Route 66 traveler. It also had a free drinking fountain in the desert. About a hundred feet from the old market you can find the water well off by the side of the road. It is a cute little stone well that has a shake shingle roof and looks a lot like a classic old wishing well. The water has long been turned off, and the plumbing stripped of its fixtures, but it still stands in silent testimony to the days when it was the source of free water in the desert. In those days gas stations charged 10 cents for a glass of drinking water or 10 cents for a gallon of radiator water. What would you have bought? Thanks to the Automobile Club of Southern California, who put the drinking fountain in, that wasn't an issue anymore for the Route 66 traveler. This little well was a very popular place on those hot summer days so long ago. | |
Art in the Desert: Danby, California |
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About ten miles from Essex another old Route 66 community can be found along the road. The town of Danby, a ghost of its former self, lay bare and blasted by the unforgiving Mojave sun. Many of these towns along this stretch of the road were once water stops for the railroad, a throw back to the steam era of railroading. When Route 66 came along they became more than railroad stops and provided vital services for the desert traveler. Danby was no different. The gas stations and cafes are closed now, but here and there are remnants of the past highway glory. | |
| At Danby you will find an abandoned wood frame and tin siding structure that looked to have been a garage at one time. What makes this old building interesting is a mural painted on the front of the building showing a scene from western lore. It consists of cool mountains; a flowing river and what looks to be mountain men engaged in some small-unnamed skirmish with the local population. The snow-covered mountains depicted in the mural are reminiscent of Rocky Mountain high country scenes rather than the open expanses of the Mojave Desert. Maybe it was an attempt by the owner to say, don't worry, the summer heat may be bad here, but there are cooler places out there somewhere. Take heart, if you follow the road long enough you just might find them. |
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Lost Oasis in the Desert: Cadiz Summit, California |
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| A few more miles down the road you will come to the ruins of Cadiz Summit. Jack Rittenhouse describes this place as a desert oasis comprised of a gas station, cafe and some tourist cabins. Today there is nothing left but foundations to tell that once this was a Route 66 stop. It probably was an important stop too. Though there is not a noticeable grade as one travels westbound Route 66 to get to Summit, there is on the eastbound highway. Motorists traveling east on the old highway would have just climbed a deceptively steep grade coming from Chambless to get to Summit. During the summer months this would have meant it was time to stop and let the car cool down. What a great place for a gas station and cafe! | ||
Once Popular Stopping Place: Chambless, California |
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The town of Chambless is only about three miles from Cadiz Summit. Jack Rittenhouse in his 1946 guidebook mentions a wide porched gas station with cafe and several tourist cabins as being located here. He remarked that it was one of the few shady spots on the entire desert route. The gas station and market is still standing, but is closed now, and the wide porch is just a memory. Evidently it blew down a few years ago in a violent Mojave windstorm. Too bad, I bet it provided a welcome relief for travelers. To be able to get out of the searing sun for just a little while must have made the old market quite a gathering place for the road weary. The market itself was built of hand made blocks of adobe brick; a very sensible building material in the desert. Adobe naturally provides some protection from the elements. It is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. | |
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| The abandoned Roadrunner Cafe and Gas Station is about a mile and a half west of Chambless and it has definitely seen better days as this vintage postcard from the 1960s shows. Compare the postcard with the picture of the Roadrunner Cafe taken in 2001 - another ghost along California's Route 66. | ||
Click anywhere along Route 66 on the map below to go there ... |
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NAVIGATION NOTE: Buckle up and hold on to your mouse! These pages are arranged like the map above, Pacific Ocean being West Route 66 and the Colorado River East Route 66. 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. Clicking West Route 66 or East Route 66 will take you to the next town or area on the map in that direction. |
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Photographs taken between January 2000 and September 2002 Courtesy Western Trails
Vintage Post Cards Courtesy PostCards From the Road
(c) 2003 GRandallWebDesign 
