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In a town full of Route 66 signs, it's a cartoon map mural of Route 66.
Roadsideamerica.com Report...
Butterfield Stage Co. Steakhouse & Lounge
- Address:
- 609 W. Hopi Dr., Holbrook, AZ
- Directions:
- Butterfield Stage Co. Steakhouse & Lounge. I-40 exit 285. Northwest corner, 5th Ave. & Hopi Drive (US 180).
- Phone:
- 928-524-3447
Yes, the name is goofy -- but this museum's firefighting equipment collection is very serious.
Roadsideamerica.com Report...
- Address:
- 6101 East Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ
- Directions:
- East edge of the city, between Tempe and Scottsdale. I-10 exit 153. North on Hwy 143/Hohokam Expy for two miles, then take exit 4 onto Washington St. East one mile, turn left onto 56th St., turn right onto Van Buren St. After you cross Galvin Pkwy. the road curves to the right; look for the Hall of Flame sign and exit to the right. Museum on right.
- Hours:
- Tu-Sa 10-6 (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 602-275-3473
- Admission:
- Adults $15, 62 and older $13, 6-17 $13, 3-5 $9
- Picacho Peak, Arizona - Military Museum and Der Fuhrer Restaurant
The [modern ruins] war museum, now defunct, is a beautiful part of my family history. It was owned by a man named Poppy and his wife. Poppy served in the Czech underground in WW1, along with my grandfather. They were great friends, and the remainder of only 40 survivors out of the entire army. They received the highest medal in the land for their valor (Electrum medal showing Czech Republic man named Havlichec on it). Poppy moved to Arizona after the war, my grandfather moved to Chicago. Through the years I have heard of many of the adventures they had endured during the war.
I met him out of curiosity and happenstance back in 1978 or so, in the last days of his museum. We discovered our family ties and he quickly gave me a tour of the building he had constructed himself. He used a steam shovel to do the heavy work. The "dome" was a World War 1 helmet giant replica and the main building for his displays of all the equipment. He hated the German armies he had fought. They had lost the family farms of their youth in the surrender at Paris. Later much of my family perished during the Holocaust.
Poppy's restaurant, The Fuhrer, was ill-named. I think he wanted to draw interest to his museum, in an Old World way. Again, he hated the Nazis for they had destroyed the Old World, not just for my family, but for everyone.
He told me I was to inherit the museum. His health was very bad, but his mind was sharp. He said zoning laws had forced him to stop construction, and commented how the place was built with concrete and rebar, saying that they will never be able to tear it down. He did not understand that permits were required, for being from Europe, things like that were not required in his day. He was well qualified to construct such a monument to the memory of the fallen soldiers. We have all lost a great treasure with his passing.
Oh, the chocolate milkshake his wife made for me was the best I have ever had!
[Anne Choc, 03/31/2016]Modern Ruins: Furrer's Museum and Restaurant:- Hours:
- Gone in the early 1980s.
- Status:
- Gone
I first saw Twin Arrows and Two Guns in June of 1965, Dad hauled his wife and 6 kids in a 1958 Ford wagon with a sign hanging out the back that said "California or Bust" from Chicago to Long Beach Ca. for a permanent move.
I started driving Trucks around 1977 and would drive past these two landmarks many times on my runs; it never occurred to me that they would ever fall to disrepair.
I am going on a motorcycle tour of the Grand Canyon on 05-09-2009 -- I may have to take a side trip just to get my picture taken at these two places before it all crumbles to the ground.
It's a shame that all it takes is some money to restore these two Rt. 66 icons. If I were a rich man it would get done for future generations to see on this historic route.
[Bob Mateski, 04/30/2009]Twin Arrows Trading Post - Ruins:- Address:
- Old Route 66, Twin Arrows, AZ
- Directions:
- Exit 219 off of eastbound I-40. A concrete barrier blocks access directly in front of the ruins, but drive a little further east and the barrier ends. Then you can pull off and park, and walk back on the safe inner side.
"Big digs built way out in the middle of nowhere by con man who was swindling a rich doofus."
That database note of ours ably sums up Scotty's Castle, but we probably need to provide a little more info:
The con man was Death Valley Scotty -- one Walter Scott, who spent years touring the world with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, and as a desert surveyor. His mark: rich Chicago businessman Albert Johnson, who believed Scott's claim about a Death Valley gold mine. Johnson came out to the site after giving Scott lots of money with no results, and the desert climate improved his health. Ultimately Johnson financed and built the southwestern/gothic hybrid "castle" in the late 1920s, with Scotty a permanent, colorful fixture.
The castle was sold to the National Park Service in 1970. The rangers dress in 1939 period clothing and conduct 50 minute long living history tours.
[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 02/03/2008]Scotty's Castle:- Address:
- Scottys Castle Rd, Death Valley, CA
- Directions:
- Out on Rt. 267 near the NV border. Note -- no fuel at the castle, and the nearest gas is 45 miles away.
- Hours:
- Closed by floods in Oct. 2015. Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
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