Amboy, California
Amboy, California | |
|---|---|
 Amboy sign, west side of town | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | San Bernardino |
| Founded | 1883 |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 4 |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes | 92304 |
| Area code | 760 |
| GNIS feature ID | 238579 |
Amboy is an unincorporated community 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 (97 km) northeast of Twentynine Palms.
Geography
The town is south of the Granite Mountains, Providence Mountains, and the Mojave National Preserve. Adjacent to the south is the landmark Amboy Crater, and beyond to the southeast the Bullion Mountains. To the south is Bristol Dry Lake and Cadiz, California.
Amboy was once a major stop along famous Route 66 but has seen much lower visitation since the opening of Interstate 40 to the north in 1973. Amboy is home to the famous Roy's Motel and Café, a Route 66 landmark.
The town has a total of 10 surviving buildings and a population of far fewer than the advertised 20. According to the Los Angeles Times, the town's population is approximately 4[1] (though according to the August 2010 edition of the U.K. magazine "Car" this had risen to 8, all of whom are male). Amboy is located in ZIP code 92304 and area code 760.
History
Although Amboy was first settled in 1858, the town was not established until 1883. Lewis Kingman, a locating engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, created the town as the first of a series of alphabetical railroad stations that were to be constructed across the Mojave Desert.[2]
In 1926, Amboy became a boom town after the opening of U.S. Route 66. In 1938, Roy's Motel and Café opened, which prospered due to its isolated location on the route. By 1940, Amboy's population had increased to 65. Its growth was tied not only to tourists, but also to the Santa Fe Railroad over which high-speed freight trains still run today between Kingman, Arizona and the BNSF Railway Barstow, California yard.
During the Great Depression and World War II, tourism declined nationally. But the remaining travelers need for lodging, meals, and gasoline kept the town busy. The town remained this way until the opening of Interstate 40 in 1973, which bypassed Amboy.[3]
Attractions
Nearby craters
Two extinct volcanoes are located to the west of Amboy. Amboy Crater is a 6,000-year-old cinder cone volcano, made largely of pahoehoe lava.[4] Pisgah Crater, also a cinder cone volcano, is located near Interstate 40. Because of quarry operations, the crater is not as well preserved as Amboy Crater.[5]
Roy's Motel and Café
Roy's Motel and Café was the only gasoline, food and lodging stop for miles around that part of the eastern Mojave and was well known for both its Googie "retro-future" architecture added to one of the original buildings and even more famous sign, a 1959 addition. Both Roy's and the surrounding town were once owned by Buster Burris, one of Route 66's most famous characters who purchased Roy's from his father-in-law Roy Crowl, the man for whom the property is named, in 1938 and ran the town until 1995.[1]
In 1938 Roy Crowl opened "Roy's" as a service station on Route 66 in Amboy. Roy, together with his wife Velma, owned the town. In the 1940s Roy teamed up with Herman "Buster" Burris who married his daughter Betty. Together they expanded the business, keeping it open 24 hours a day and adding the motel to the service station and café. Business boomed in the deluge of motor tourists after World War II.[1]
The routing of the old National Trails Highway (1914) and its better-traveled successor, Route 66 through Amboy saw a steady growth of business, especially at Roy's. The complex was so busy during summer vacation that Burris placed classified ads in other states to bring in employees.
Buster sold the town in 1995, and moved to Twentynine Palms where he died in 2000. The town was owned by investors Walt Wilson and Tim White who mainly used it for photo shots and to host movie companies. After the two lost it in foreclosure, it was repossessed by Bessie Burris, Buster's widow. Bessie sold the property in February 2005 to Albert Okura, owner of the Juan Pollo restaurant chain, who offered $425,000 in cash and promised to preserve the town and reopen Roy's.[1]
On April 28, 2008, Roy's reopened. The renovations and repairs cost $100,000. Albert Okura also has plans to open a café and mini-mart at the same location.[6]
Roy's has attracted some well-known regulars. Actors Harrison Ford and Anthony Hopkins have autographed photos on the walls of the restaurant and visit whenever their schedules allow. Ford frequently flies in and lands his plane on a nearby landing strip, one of the first ever built in California.
Amboy School
The former Amboy School is adjacent to Roy's. The school closed in 1999.
Shoe Tree
A palo verde tree east of Roy's on Route 66 was formerly used as a Shoe tree[7] but collapsed in 2010.
Popular culture
Part of the 1986 motion picture The Hitcher with Rutger Hauer was filmed in Amboy while Roy's was the setting for a 1999 television commercial[8] for Qwest Communications. It was also used in Enrique Iglesias' music video "Hero" and the film Live Evil. Owners Wilson and White maintained Amboy in weathered, unrestored condition for use as a motion picture film site.
A large portion of the 2010 Movie Beneath The Dark was filmed in Amboy.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Mike Anton, Destiny in the desert, Los Angeles Times, January 17, 2007.
- ^ Gudde, Erwin; William Bright (2004). California Place Names (Fourth ed.). University of California Press. p. 11. ISBN 0-520-24217-3.
- ^ History of Amboy, California Retrieved on 2010-1-12
- ^ Amboy Crater Retrieved on 2010-1-12
- ^ Pisgah Crater Retrieved on 2010-1-12
- ^ Roys Gas Station Reopens-The Guzzler Blogspot Retrieved on 2010-1-12
- ^ Route 66 Roy's: Pictures Retrieved on 2010-03-11
- ^ adland.tv Retrieved on 2010-03-11
External links
- Amboy, CA at Curlie
- Artists photo study of Amboy 2007
- History, historic photos and rental information
- Roy’s in Amboy, California Featured in J.Crew Catalog
- Virtual Field with Pisgah Crater
- Roys Café Restoration Project
- Amboy at Modern Day Ruins
