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Texas Route 66

Route 66
Halfway Point

Texas Route 66

 

Adrian Texas ~ Halfway Point on Route 66

Old Adrian Gas Station

Adrian, Texas was half the size of Vega in the hey-day of the Mother Road with a population of 250. In 1946 it had a gas station and cafe, but no other tourist facilities. There's plenty to see in Adrian today though. On old Route 66, buildings line the main street and speak of a time when a nation passed by on the way to somewhere else. There are some interesting old buildings too. The Bent Door Trading Post, now closed and falling to neglect can be found in Adrian. Once this was a bustling tourist stop on the old highway, its weathered sign still gives out the mileage to distant ports of call on old Route 66.

Bent Door Trading Post

Bent Door Sign

The Bent Door Trading Post, now closed and falling to neglect can be found in Adrian. Once this was a bustling tourist stop on the old highway, its weathered sign still gives out the mileage to distant ports of call on old Route 66 (written in 2003).

2007 Route 66 Update ~ The Bent Door Trading Post Lives Again!

The Bent Door is now coming to life on Route 66 In Adrian, Texas. Roy and Ramona Kiewert purchased The Bent Door on July 21, 2006 with plans to restore it to its former glory. Robert Harris built the Bent Door in 1947, and in 1995 saved it from demolition. He passed away a few years ago, before he could restore the property. The Kiewerts plan to finish the restoration that Robert started.

The Bent Door will be a 1950s diner/malt shop with a patio out back for outside dining. It will also include a souvenir shop and grocery store. The World War II control tower area will feature Texas tourist information. Roy and Ramona are hoping to encourage travelers on Interstate 40 to stop in Adrian for a spell.
   Roy and Ramona Kiewert

 

Adrian Mid Point Cafe

Midpoint Cafe Halfway to California

If there is one thing makes Adrian stand out among the lore of the old highway is that it is the halfway point between Chicago and Santa Monica on Route 66. This claim to fame is celebrated at Adrian's Mid Point Cafe, a fun place to stop and mingle with the locals over a piece of pie and a cup of coffee. And let me tell you about the pies ~ they are all homemade. Can you say that about the last place you stopped to eat just off the Interstate? If you are traveling the entire length of Route 66 from either end then this is the place to stop and celebrate, you've made it halfway. The MidPoint Cafe is located at the exact "geo-mathematical" MidPoint of Route 66 and is the oldest continuously operated cafe along Route 66 between Amarillo, Texas and Tucumcari, New Mexico.
      
This celebrated cafe was once a one room "greasy spoon" called Zella's built by Zella Crim. The original structure is now the MidPoint gift shop. The cafe was enlarged in the 60s and called Jesse's Cafe. It was then that it acquired the look it has today. Fran Houser purchased the Adrian Cafe in 1992 and has brought it back to life as THE place to stop in the Texas Panhandle. I wonder if her famous, homemade pies have anything to do with that!

Fran Houser

     

Famous Route 66 Logo

MidPoint Cafe Sign

 

Photographs Taken September 2002 & May 2003

Click on an area or city of Route 66 on the map below to take a cyber tour of that section of the  Mother Road

Travel Cyber Route 66 in Texas

Go West on Route 66

NAVIGATION NOTE: Buckle up and hold on to your mouse! These pages are arranged like the map above, from the western state border to the eastern state border. I have set up this site as if you were traveling from EAST to WEST, much like the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath. You can click on the Route 66 shields to "travel" the Mother Road in either direction though. Or you can select any shield below to take you to that specific state.

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Select the Route 66 State to Visit

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