Roy's Motel and Café
| Roy's Motel and Café | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Modernism |
| Location | Amboy, California, United States |
| Completed | 1938 |
Roy's Motel and Café is a motel, café, gas station and auto repair shop, defunct for many years but now being largely restored, on the National Trails Highway of U.S. Route 66 in the Mojave Desert town of Amboy in San Bernardino County, California. The historic site is an example of roadside Mid-Century Modern Googie architecture.
The entire town of Amboy – including the mostly defunct Roy's complex – is owned by and under the stewardship of a private preservationist.
In 1938, founder Roy Crowl opened Roy's as a gas and service station along U.S. Highway 66, in Amboy. At the time, Route 66 – the "Main Street of America" – was the primary east-west highway artery crossing the nation from Chicago through the Southwest to Los Angeles. The construction of Roy's was one consequence of a Route 66 realignment through Mountain Springs Summit, bypassing Goffs to directly connect Needles and Essex, and continuing west to Amboy.
In the 1940s, Crowl teamed up with his son-in-law, Herman "Buster" Burris. They expanded the business to include a café, an auto repair garage, and an auto court of small cabins for overnight rental by Route 66 travelers. Buster Burris himself almost singlehandedly created the town's infrastructure, some of which remains semi-functioning today. Burris even brought power to Amboy and Roy's all the way from Barstow by erecting his own poles and wires alongside Route 66 using an old Studebaker pickup truck.
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