Depew, Stroud, Davenport, and Chandler, Oklahoma...and the Ozark Trail Highway

We enjoyed this stretch of Route 66 even more than we thought we would. There are a lot of underappreciated sights along here.

From Bristow, Oklahoma, we continued west on Route 66 (OK 66) to Depew, which is a Route 66 oddity. The original road ran north of town, where it does today. But the road wasn’t yet paved, so Route 66 initially made a loop into Depew to take advantage of its paved roads. The road was paved, and Depew bypassed, in 1928—only two years after Route 66 was established.

To follow the original Route 66, we turned left (south) onto Flynn Avenue and right (west) on Main Street. On the southwest corner of Main Street and Malley Avenue is the former Hicks Filling Station, built around 1920.

1920 Hicks Filling Station in Depew, Oklahoma

We continued another two blocks on Main Street, then turned right (north) on Ladd Avenue to return to OK 66.

Over the next 10 miles we saw fragments of earlier alignments of Route 66 along both sides of OK 66. We soon entered Stroud, Oklahoma, and within a few blocks saw a Route 66 icon: the Rock Café at 114 West Main Street. 

1939 Rock Cafe in Stroud, Oklahoma

The Rock Café and its famous neon sign were built in 1939. The restaurant is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. It burned in 2008 but has been beautifully restored.

Our next goal after Stroud was to travel a segment of a road older than Route 66: the Ozark Trail Highway. Before Route 66 and other Federal highways were established in 1926, business leaders took it upon themselves to create cross-country highways. One of the most famous of these early highways was the Lincoln Highway, which crossed the country and intersected with Route 66 in Joliet, Illinois.  The Ozark Trail Highway, from St. Louis, Missouri, to Las Vegas, New Mexico, was established in 1915. It was more a network than a highway, as this old map in the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum shows.

Ozark Trails Map

When Route 66 was established in 1926, it followed much of the Ozark Trail Highway. One segment of the original Ozark Trail Highway is southwest of Stroud. It was constructed in 1915-17 and is still in original condition: dirt. (Not a good idea to drive this if it’s been raining recently!)

To follow the original Ozark Trail Highway segment, we drove south from Stroud on OK 99. In about a quarter mile, we turned right (west) on West Central Street. When West Central Street ended in about a mile, we turned left (south) on Old Stroud Road. In about a mile, we turned right (west) on E0880 Road (also known as 26^th Street). When E0880 Road ended in about a mile, we turned left (south) on Ozark Trail Road. In another mile, we reached our goal: an obelisk at the intersection with East 890 Road.

Ozark Trail obelisk west of Stroud, Oklahoma

Many of the very early highways were marked with painted posts. The Lincoln Highway, for example, was marked with posts painted red, white and blue, and at first the Ozark Trail Highway was marked with posts painted green and white. But the Ozark Trail Highway was soon marked with obelisks, and this is one of the few remaining today. Until recently it was covered with graffiti, but it’s been nicely cleaned up.

At the obelisk, we turned right (west) on East 890 Road to rejoin OK 66 in about two miles. You can see the dirt road in the photo above.

We loved taking this stretch of road. It gave us a feel for what it was like to cross the country over a hundred years ago, before many roads were paved. If you look closely as you drive along it, you’ll see a few concrete culverts and box drains that were built in 1915-1917, when the road was constructed.

Back on OK 66, we continued a mile and a half into Davenport, Oklahoma. Just before reaching downtown, Route 66 (OK 66) bends right, and here is a former 1933 Texaco station. For a while it was reopened as the Early Bird Diner, but that's now closed.

1933 Texaco station in Davenport, Oklahoma

Instead of bending right at the Texaco station to continue on Route 66, we took a short detour. We continued straight for two blocks south on Broadway and found a treasure: several blocks of Broadway paved in brick in 1925-1926.

Broadway in Davenport, Oklahoma

This stretch on Broadway is on the National Register of Historic Places. There are some murals here too!

We then returned to the Texaco station to continue on Route 66 (OK 66) to Chandler, Oklahoma. On the outskirts of Chandler, we had a fun stop at the Route 66 Bowl.

Sign for the Route 66 Bowl in Chandler, Oklahoma, plus vintage gas station signs

Route 66 Bowl in Chandler, Oklahoma, with more vintage gas station signs

As you can see, the Route 66 Bowl has a great neon sign and a wonderful collection of vintage gas station signs. We’re old enough that many of those signs brought back memories!

OK 66 curves left (south) in front of the 1937 Chandler Armory, now the Route 66 Interpretive Center.  OK 66 then merges into Manvel Avenue. There are a lot of historic buildings along here, including 12 on the National Register of Historic Places. A month after our visit, I saw this map of Chandler’s historic sites on Facebook. 

Map of historic sites in Chandler, Oklahoma (from Facebook)

On our next drive through here, we want to stop and explore more of Chandler--there's a lot to see and do here!

On this trip, we stopped at just one historic site: a 1930 Phillips 66 gas station at 701 Manvel Avenue.

1930 Phillips 66 gas station in Chandler, Oklahoma 

This Phillips 66 station has been restored on the exterior, but the interior remains gutted and open. So this was a rare chance to get a sense of what these stations looked like inside. They were definitely as small inside as they look on the outside!

Interior of Phillips 66 station in Chandler, Oklahoma

One rest room was inside.

Interior rest room (on left) in Phillips 66 station in Chandler, Oklahoma

Another rest room had an outside entrance.

Exterior rest room in Phillips 66 station in Chandler, Oklahoma

At the southern end of Chandler, Route 66 (OK 66) turns right (west) on West 15^th Street. From here it was about 6 miles to Warwick, Oklahoma.