The famous 50 ft “Roy’s Motel & Café” neon sign is erected. Following the sign, the remodeling of the reception office brought new life to the town with it’s Googie, “retro-future” architecture. The sign could be seen for miles while approaching Amboy....
Roy and Velma Crowl open the service station, café, and the motel shortly after. With the help of his son-in-law, Herman “Buster” Burris, Amboy quickly became a 24/7 operation....
U.S Route 66, the Main Street of America opens and originally ran from Chicago and ended in Santa Monica, California. With the growing popularity of the highway, many roadside communities like Amboy became prosperous boomtowns....
First settled in 1858 and later established in 1883, Amboy was founded by Lewis Kingman, a locating engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. Amboy was created among many other railroad stations along the Mojave Desert....
The opening of Interstate 40 drove all mandatory traffic away from Route 66 leaving most of the booming roadside towns in despair. Buster was quoted saying that the business, “went down to zero” the day the I-40 opened....
Timothy White, a New York Photographer, leased the town from Buster Burris. Even with the decline of business, he believed the town could still serve as a profitable film location. Due to poor management and operations, the property went into foreclosure and was repossessed....
Bessie Burris, Buster’s widow, sold Amboy to Albert Okura, founder of Juan Pollo, after repossessing the foreclosed property. Albert promised to restore and preserve the town to its original glory. He is also the proprietor of the Original McDonald’s Museum on Route 66 in San...
In 2008 the Gas Station Reopened for Business with the original gas pumps. Although the café is still in the process to be reopened, visitors can purchase exclusive souvenirs, apparel, and merchandise for Amboy, Roy’s Motel & Café and Route 66. ...
Amboy is hosting the official relighting celebration of Roy’s Motel & Café neon sign. The sign has not been functioning since the 80s. With the continued support of our visitors, we can continue to make renovations to the town and soon reopen the motel cottages...