The Town Fathers of Chandler, Oklahoma are definitely low key when it comes to the town's promotion. They emphasize in their official history that, over the years, the town has never had more than 3,000 residents, was not an oil boom town despite all the crude being pumped around it, and wasn't really into all that cotton being grown in the surrounding fields. Reporting about current day Chandler by their Chamber of Commerce is not much more informative, just a stale list of small businesses. All I can infer then, as a 66er, was that the town did benefit from the building of Route 66 in the 1920's, then lost all that commerce with the coming of the Turner Turnpike in the 1950's. Jack Rittenhouse, a 66er from an earlier era, reported that the town was indeed an agricultural trading center at the time of his visit, shipping "considerable honey and pecans." Further reporting from 66 travelers is always welcome.
Chandler's Route 66 heritage is more upbeat. The Oklahoma Route 66 Association is on Manvel Street, and there is a neat looking Route 66 Interpretive Center. The Oklahoma Law Enforcement Museum and Hall of Fame is also in town, and I just love Halls of Fame of any kind. Search out the Lincoln Motel, Pete's Diner, and the grave of Bill Tilghman, a saloon owner from Dodge City, Kansas, who later became a famous deputy U.S. Marshall in the Oklahoma City area. The photos above are from Chandler's "cottage style" Phillips gas station, with some mean looking Ford Pickups and a brick exterior that is just the perfect place to paint a Route 66 shield. Log Book: 804 miles motored on old 66.
No comments:
Post a Comment