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| Looking east on old Route 66 |
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| Gayle & Lilly inside one of Roy's bungalows. |
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| Salt canal at Amboy. Photo credit: Photographersnature (Wikipedia site) |
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Amboy, CA
Amboy is located on old Route 66 in the middle of California's Mojave Desert. It's more or less in the middle of nowhere, which is a nice place to be. The only thing open in Amboy today is a gas station (with high gas prices, but no other options for miles around). In the gas station you can buy a souvenir or a cold drink. What is much more interesting is all the stuff you can still see that is no longer open, like Roy's Motel & Cafe. Back in the day, this was the perfect stop for road-weary travelers making the cross-country trek on Route 66.
The town of Amboy was founded in 1858. In 1926, Amboy became a "boom" town after the opening of U.S. Route 66. In 1938, Roy's Motel and Cafe opened, which prospered due to its location along the route. By 1940, Amboy had a population of 65. Its growth was tied not only to tourists, but also to the Santa Fe Railroad over which freight trains still run today. Once Interstate 40 opened in 1973, Amboy and many other small towns along Route 66 slowly died.
Roy's is very photogenic. A lot of cool angles, definitely has a retro feel to it. I guess you could call it mid-century modern, although it was built in the late 30's. Travelers would check in, maybe grab a burger and cold drink at the cafe, and get the keys to one of the small bungalows. Most would probably spend a single night, and then continue west on Route 66 to Hollywood, Santa Monica, or wherever. Who knows, if you have relatives who traveled west to Southern California in the 40's, 50's, or 60's, they might have stayed at Roy's!
The view SW of Roy's. Amboy Crater is clearly visible. You can hike a trail into the inside of the crater!
Amboy School, which is right next to Roy's, closed in 1999 after the last students moved away.
The church at Amboy. Everything here has kind of a minimalist feel.
Lilly and I discovered a bunch of reflecting silver bowls attached to a pole. Like an interesting art installation!
Amboy is also the home of the National Chloride Company of America. Near as I can tell, they create channels of salty water in the sandy soil and let the sodium chloride precipitate out. I'm sure there's much more to it than that, but regardless, it's an interesting area. It's about as close as you can get to being on the surface of another planet without the space travel!
Amboy is an interesting semi-ghost town that is well preserved and very much worth a visit if you are in the area. Probably best avoided during the scorching summer months. Bring your camera!
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It certainly feels desolate but striking.
ReplyDeleteWow. great place and definitely mid century modern feel. Someone should snap it up and make a 50's tourist destination out of the area.
ReplyDeleteFascinating history and photos ~ especially like ones of beautiful Lily ~ Rt 66 in its day must have been fun!
ReplyDeleteHappy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Hello, I like the retro look. Rt 66 and Amboy look like a fun day trip. The canal scene and sky is beautiful. Your granddaughter is a cutie, I am sure she likes these adventures. Enjoy your day, have a happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed you can get inside the bungalows. I hope you were out there on a cool day. I wouldn't head that way this month.
ReplyDeleteIf you crave solitude, I guess Amboy's the place!
ReplyDeleteThe B&W pictures are well framed. Gives a perfect retro look
ReplyDeleteIt's always sad to me to read about little towns disappearing. Great photos today!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour, info and history. I really did enjoy it. You do some interesting Blogging. ;-)
ReplyDeleteSherry & jack presently in Lancaster, PA probably as opposite of Amboy as one can get.
Nice shots of the old abandoned motel! Sad to see these places no longer in use.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite one this week is the church with sun rays. Lovely retro feeling, b/w works very well. Nice minimalist touch. Like the history as well, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool place! Nice shots.
ReplyDeleteIt all looks rather post-apocalyptic, like a world after global-warming has done its worst. The more romantic side of me can picture Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady passing through in a beat-up, dusty Chevy.
ReplyDeleteWe have an Amboy not too very far away--- not a bit like this one. I think that church was used in a movie--- Di Niro as a priest as I recall. But then there could be others like it. THe whole place looks a bit like a movie set. Well captured, as always.
ReplyDeleteNice photo's of a nearly deserted desert town but your new header is crowning it all. What a great clear and crip shot.
ReplyDeleteWonderful series, Peter. A location in the middle of a desert like Roy's Motel and Cafe makes me think of old movies. The loneliness is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteGreat to about Amboy.
ReplyDeleteAmazing place.
Beautiful pics :)
Love it though anything like that here would be trashed by the Mindless idiots who think it is fun. I like who it is preserved so well. There are a few towns and villages around here where trade dropped off due to a bypass being built, one place fought for one and nearly all the trade died off because no one drove through anymore
ReplyDeleteI've been considering a 66 trip.
ReplyDeleteSee you in Vegas (My Dad was born on 66...Tucumcari NM)
That's pretty cool, Mac. A little tiny town like Tucumcari on Route 66. I guess made famous by Lowell George's "Willin'"!
Deletestunning photos and signage
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are absolutely amazing. Fabulous job!
ReplyDeleteAwesome photos and thanks for the tour and history of Amboy! Your photo of the chloride company's land DOES look like another planet, very neat! And honestly...I feel like I've seen that motel and café in a movie recently...
ReplyDeleteThose are positively beautifully inviting photos of Amboy. If I am ever in the 'hood, I will stop by for sure. Like your new banner, too.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm really smacking myself for not heading southeast after Barstow on our road trip. The original plan was to take off down the Old National Trail Highway and follow that bit of Route 66. But we decided just to get on I40 and head to Kingman to give the animals a shorter ride. The last time we went the 66 path we saw a tree full of tennis shoes and forgot to take a picture. Since getting it this time was the main reason for going that way, we took the (only slightly) quicker route. Anyway, I knew Amboy was there, but not how cool it is, so I'm going to show your post to my husband so he'll feel guilty. We also skipped the part of 66 out of Ash Fork in Arizona going west because we had spent too long in Flagstaff. Another mistake we won't make again. Thanks for the inspiration and, as always, the great shots.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. I love your comment! Unfortunately, I think the original shoe tree (a little east of Amboy) died and fell over. But there are others!! It's a fascinating area.
DeleteInteressante Fotos!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. I am sure that I have driven past it at some point or another. Oklahoma has a bunch of old motels on Route 66. Some of them are still open.
ReplyDeleteThe local newspapers, and historical associations should definitely link to this article or reprint it! You're doing great work here
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for this post. I am going to bookmark this. One more spot to check and put in the back burner. My husband is going to find this a fun place to visit since our last name is Roy.
ReplyDeleteWorth a Thousand Words
Well, with your last name being Roy, you simply HAVE to visit! Thanks for your wonderful comment.
DeleteWhat a great place to explore, a photo haven for sure. I'm surprised too that you could actually go into those bungalows. Awesome photos of the deserted town. I love your new header, very nice indeed.
ReplyDeleteA happy weekend to you!
You make me want to go out to California (I live in New York State and have only been in California once) I have been on Rt 66 in Missouri (where it parallels I-44) and this is so much different (but of course). I loved the "art installation" picture the most! Your granddaughter is going to have so many cool memories of you.
ReplyDeleteAmboy does not look old at all! It's always a strange feeling to enter a ghost town. Especially when you (I) come from such an overpopulated country like I. Every meter is accounted for! Yes, there are abandoned buildings, but very soon something new comes into place at that spot!
ReplyDeleteThose are outstanding photos! What a fantastic place!
ReplyDeleteWow!! Who maintains this place? It is still looking great. Of course the weather may make that possible. We are so damp up this way that left untended anything will rot, mildew or get very mossy
ReplyDeleteMB
I think the entire town of Amboy is owned by one individual. He (she?) promotes it for use as a movie set, and a number of movies have been filmed here.
DeleteWhat an amazing place, a friend of mine from NZ was here a few years ago, a group of Kiwis driving Mustangs from one end of Route 66 to the other, as much as they could anyway!! Amazing photos.
ReplyDeleteI love these photos. I bet this area was used a lot for movies. Happy weekend to you.
ReplyDeleteDesserts can be beautiful too. Looks like a cowboy town just like in the cowboy shows. Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteWow lots of great pics thankyou for sharing with us,I really enjoyed seeing these places .
ReplyDeleteFull On Twilight Zone - Excellent Installment Here - Brilliant Post
ReplyDeleteCheers
Interesting!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Wow, it really is a picturesque place. Your photos are such a great reminder of a different time.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking I liked the B/W shots the best, then I saw the vivid colors in that shot 2nd to last. Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThose little cabins at Roy’s remind me of places we stayed in on the road when I was a kid. I think they were called motor lodges with the individual cabins. Anyway, interesting that nothing is left of the town but the gas station/convenience store as those tourist needs haven’t changed.
ReplyDeleteWe camped in some places in that area...( San Bernardino County?)...Anyway, I remember the interesting ghost town signs and buildings, and the craters, but didn’t know all that information. The picture of Lily running down the abandoned street is wonderful ...all that life and color and exuberance in contrast to her surroundings, Fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI think you've captured the mood of these places wonderfully well.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots, interesting post. The silver bowls make an awesome photo.
ReplyDeleteFascinating history. How interesting that the buildings you showed are still relatively intact and available to explore!
ReplyDeleteI love this desert and your pictures are magnificent. I came to California on Rte 66 all the way from wherever it connected to the east coast routes. It was 1972 and I lived in Princeton, NJ back then. Probably in Indiana. I'm so glad I was able to travel so far on that wonderful road. You miss so much now, driving on the interstate. Maybe I should write a post about that adventure.
ReplyDeleteYou really should, Inger. It would be a fascinating post!!
Delete....und wieder war es eine Freude auf Ihrer Reise dabei zu sein!
ReplyDelete