Roy's Motel and Cafe
Encyclopedia
Motel
A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...
, cafe
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
, gas station, auto repair shop on the National Trails Highway of U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...
in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
town of Amboy
Amboy, California
Amboy is an unincorporated town in San Bernardino County, in California's Mojave Desert, west of Needles and east of Ludlow on historic Route 66. It is roughly 60 miles northeast of Twentynine Palms.-Geography:...
in San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...
. The historic site is an example of roadside
Roadside
Many things may be found along the roadside. These include:* Roadside attractions* Roadside memorials* Japanese Roadside Stations- Music :* Roadside Monument, a defunct US-based rock band* "Roadside", a song by Rise Against from The Sufferer & the Witness...
Mid-Century Modern
Mid-century modern
Mid-Century modern is an architectural, interior and product design form that generally describes mid-20th century developments in modern design, architecture, and urban development from roughly 1933 to 1965...
Googie architecture
Googie architecture
Googie architecture is a form of modern architecture, a subdivision of futurist architecture influenced by car culture and the Space and Atomic Ages....
.
Roy's and the entire town of Amboy is presently owned and under the stewardship of a private preservationist.
Origins on Route 66
In 1938, founder Roy Crowl opened Roy's as a gas and service stationFilling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
along the legendary U.S. Highway 66, in Amboy. At the time, Route 66 was "The Mother Road" and "Main Street of America" - the primary east-west highway artery crossing the nation from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
through the Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The construction of Roy's coincided with a Route 66 realignment through Mountain Springs Summit, bypassing Goffs
Goffs, California
Goffs, an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, is a nearly empty one-time railroad town at the route's high point in the Mojave Desert. Goffs was a stop along famous U.S. Route 66 prior to 1931, when a more direct route between Needles and Amboy was built...
to directly connect Needles
Needles, California
Needles is a city located in the Mojave Desert on the western banks of the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, California. It is located in the Mohave Valley, which straddles the California–Arizona border. The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95...
and Essex
Essex, California
Essex is a small unincorporated town in San Bernardino County, California. Essex lies on Old National Trails Highway - part of the old Route 66 - just south of Interstate 40 in the Mojave Desert.-History:...
, and west to Amboy.
In the 1940s, Crowl teamed up with his son-in-law, Herman "Buster" Burris. They expanded the business, as Roy's Motel and Cafe, to include a cafe, an auto repair garage, and an auto court
Motel
A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...
of small cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
s for overnight rental by Route 66 travelers. Buster Burris himself almost singlehandedly created the town's infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
, some of which remains semi-functioning today. Burris even brought power to Amboy and Roy's all the way from Barstow
Barstow, California
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 22,639 at the 2010 census, up from 21,119 at the 2000 census. Barstow is located north of San Bernardino....
by erecting his own poles and wires alongside Route 66 using an old Studebaker
Studebaker
Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
.
Postwar business boomed as families discovered the joys of motor travel after the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
years of tire
Tire
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
and gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
and new cars not being manufactured. Roy Crowl and Burris kept Roy's garage and cafe operating 24 hours a day - seven days a week; so busy was Roy's that Burris took out classified ads in newspapers across the country in the hope of recruiting help.
By the opening of the 1950s, Roy's complex employed up to 70 people; the town's entire population then was 700.
Some very significant and lasting aesthetic changes came to Roy's Motel and Cafe in 1959: with the February 1 erection of the infamous towering neon
Neon
Neon is the chemical element that has the symbol Ne and an atomic number of 10. Although a very common element in the universe, it is rare on Earth. A colorless, inert noble gas under standard conditions, neon gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in either low-voltage neon glow lamps or...
"Roy's boomerang
Boomerang
A boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...
logo" sign visible for miles approaching Amboy; and with the construction of the motel's new Mid-Century Modern Style - MCM
Mid-century modern
Mid-Century modern is an architectural, interior and product design form that generally describes mid-20th century developments in modern design, architecture, and urban development from roughly 1933 to 1965...
"inclined roof flying over a glassed wedge" guest reception and office "theme building." They all were a vital beacon milepost and "modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
refuge" for the following decade plus.
After Interstate 40
The 1972 opening of Interstate 40 in CaliforniaInterstate 40 in California
In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 40 has its western terminus in Barstow. Known as the Needles Freeway, a major east–west route of the Interstate Highway System, it heads east from Barstow across the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County past the Clipper Mountains to Needles,...
, unconnected and a fair distance north of Amboy's section of Route 66, quite literally meant the overnight loss of business. Burris himself was quoted as saying that his business "went down to zero" the day I-40 opened. Roy Crowl died in 1977, with Buster Burris continuing the business for what comparatively few travelers now used decommissioned but scenic Route 66. Burris had strong prejudices against "rowdy bikers and men with long hair" and chased off many "unacceptable patrons" at gunpoint.
During Amboy's decline, Roy's Motel and Cafe became the town's only business besides a post office and Bristol Dry Lake's chloride
Chloride
The chloride ion is formed when the element chlorine, a halogen, picks up one electron to form an anion Cl−. The salts of hydrochloric acid HCl contain chloride ions and can also be called chlorides. The chloride ion, and its salts such as sodium chloride, are very soluble in water...
works, and continued to attract visitors including some well-known people, long after the town's overall decline.
Entertainment
The actors Harrison FordHarrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
and Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
, with autographed photos on the restaurant's wall, visited when schedules allowed. Ford frequently flew in, landing his plane on a nearby landing strip, one of the first in California.
Part of the 1986 motion picture The Hitcher with Rutger Hauer was filmed in Amboy. Both the reception area and neon sign helped establish the setting for a 1999 television commercial for Qwest Communications. It was also used in the Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
music video for his hit single, Hero. In September 1993, Kalifornia
Kalifornia
Kalifornia is an American thriller/road film, directed by Dominic Sena and starring Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, and Michelle Forbes. The film focuses on an aspiring writer and his photographer girlfriend who are traveling cross-country to research serial killers...
was released, starring Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, which was filmed in Amboy .
In 1978, Buster Burris married Bessie Van deVeer, a local artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, who brought her love of the desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
and her charm to Amboy. Roses were painted on side of the prep table in the kitchen and can be seen in the movie The Hitcher
The Hitcher
The Hitcher is a 1986 thriller, directed by Robert Harmon and written by Eric Red. The film stars Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jeffrey DeMunn.-Plot:...
. They continued to run the town together until 1995.
White period
In 1995 Timothy WhiteTimothy White
Timothy White was a noted American rock music journalist and editor.White began his journalism career as a writer for the Associated Press, but soon gravitated towards music writing...
leased the entire town of Amboy and Roy's from Buster Burris, White was a noted New York photographer, who saw value in maintaining the property in a weathered, worn condition as a Filming location
Filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
. White contracted with his 'high school buddy' Walt Wilson to manage the property, and later completed the purchase of the whole town in February, 2000 for U.S.$710,000 from Burris. Buster Burris died later that year at age 91 on August 10, 2000.
Wilson and White continued to sell gasoline, food, and Route 66 souvenir
Souvenir
A souvenir , memento, keepsake or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist traps around the world...
s at Roy's. However the operating hours were sporadic, the menu limited, the management reportedly surly to visitors, and the gasoline and water almost prohibitively expensive - due to the facility's remote location and exorbitant pricing. Reportedly a single glass of tap water in the cafe cost US$1.00. Timothy White offered Amboy for sale on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
in 2003, but the property remained unsold.
Restoration to reopen
The property went into foreclosure for repossession in February 2005, with Timothy White and Walt Wilson relinquishing control and returning ownership of Amboy and Roy's to Bessie Burris, Buster Burris's widow. She offered all the property for sale "on the San Bernardino County courthouse steps" but no bidders showed up. With her granddaughter Bonnie Barnes helping, Bessie Burris declared the town on the market for just one March 2005 week with sale to the highest bidder that Friday at noon. However more time passed.The town was finally sold in May 2005, to Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
preservation patron Albert Okura, after his pledge to Bessie Burris to restore Roy's keeping its original historic Route 66 look and feel, reopen it, and to open a new museum showcasing Amboy's history. Okura acquired the 950+/- acres including the town and Roy's Motel and Cafe for $425,000 in cash on May 3, 2005.
Albert Okura, owner of the Juan Pollo
Juan Pollo
Juan Pollo is a restaurant chain based in Southern California that specializes in rotisserie-broiled Mexican-style roast chicken. It was founded in 1984 by Albert Okura. His first restaurant job was working at Burger King in 1970....
chain
Chain
A chain is a sequence of connected links.Chain may also refer to:Chain may refer to:* Necklace - a jewelry which is worn around the neck* Mail , a type of armor made of interlocking chain links...
restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, faced challenges in getting basics such as electricity and water services restored and operative. Okura's restoration hurdles predominantly involved Amboy's infrastructure, most of it had been laid by Buster Burris himself and not to current building codes. Bessie Burris continued to visit and work with Albert Okura collecting memorabilia for the town and Roy's until her passing at 91, May 17, 2008 in nearby Wonder Valley, CA.
Okura has experience with preservationist
Preservationist
Preservationist is generally understood to mean historic preservationist: one who advocates to preserve architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, objects or sites from demolition or degradation...
efforts and stewardship, being the owner of the Original McDonald's
History of McDonald's
This is a timeline of the history of McDonald's.The McDonald's concept was introduced in San Bernardino, California by Dick and Mac McDonald of Manchester, New Hampshire...
in San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
which he operates as a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
. Unlike Wilson and White who wanted to maintain Roy's and Amboy in a patinated "weathered" condition for use as in film shoots, Okura plans to fully restore Roy's to its former glory as a "nostalgia tourists" destination, and Route 66 rest stop for travelers enroute to and from Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
scenic and recreation areas.
Open
The first steps, the coffee shopCoffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
and gas station, have both been refurbished and were reopened on April 28, 2008. The Roy's Motel and Cafe repair, renovation, and restoration costs so far approach U.S.$100,000. While the station's gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
is still expensive, owing to remote delivery costs, it is below the exorbitant Wilson and White years. Albert Okura also has plans to open a Roy's cafe and mini-mart at the same location.