Meeting Route 66 Legend Harley Russell in Oklahoma

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:04]Well, good morning. Good morning from a uh a sleepy a sleepy Shamrock, Texas. Um I am still laying here in bed. I actually slept in just a little bit today. Um little bit tired after yesterday's marathon day. I ended up getting to bed about 10:00, which means I ran yesterday from about 4:30 in the morning when I got up at the hotel in Elk City, Oklahoma. And then I ended up getting here about 6, but didn't actually get to bed until about 10:00.

[00:00:37]So, yeah. Yeah, that was just um a long long day, but we got to do a lot. Got to see a lot. Got to have some uh some Ken's Route 66 adventures, and today will be the same. I'm going to get up here shortly, get ready, check out in my hotel. I'm staying at the Western Motel here in Shamrock. It's been fantastic.

[00:00:57]This bed is very comfortable. I uh I slept like a rock once uh people finally got here and settled in. There were people coming in until probably about midnight. And so, every so often they'd wake me up. Somebody's car alarm went off. Oh man, I jumped. I thought it was mine because I'm literally parked right outside my window here. And so I jumped up to see what was going on and realized, oh, okay. I mean, I was out. I had been asleep hard. Yeah, that wasn't good. But once it quieted down, I went out. I went out good. So, I got some good sleep. But I am going to go ahead and check out here soon. And then I'm going to go walk around uh walk around town and see what uh Shamrock, Texas has to offer. Hey everyone, I'm Ken and welcome to Ken's Route 66 Adventures. On this channel, we're traveling America's most iconic highway, exploring the history, the roadside stops, and the small towns that make Route 66 legendary. And we're doing it the only way that matters, mile by mile. So, let's hit the road. So, the sun is coming up over Route 66, and we're about ready to start another classic Ken's Route 66 adventure today here in Shamrock, Texas. But I think the first thing I'm going to need to do is go find me a coffee.

[00:02:12]Well, I struck out on finding a coffee because the only place in town where you can get a latte is temporarily closed.

[00:02:20]So, let's start our morning off right here. We are at the Water Tower Plaza.

[00:02:26]The Water Tower is just up to our left here. I'll show that here in a moment.

[00:02:31]But they have this really cool sign here that talks about uh about incorporating and about Shamrock. If you want to read that, go ahead and pause the video. But check this out. Down right at its base, they have the state of Texas. And then to mark where Shamrock is, all the way up here in the panhandle, they have a shamrock.

[00:02:55]A clover. That is so cool. Should have been a four-leaf clover, maybe. I don't know. But then all along the way they have these different signs that talk about planning it and about building it and about the town of Shamrock as well. As you can see right here is the Shamrock water tower.

[00:03:19]Can't read it up there, but it is there.

[00:03:23]But this plaza is really kind of cool.

[00:03:25]I'd never seen this. I just happen to be driving by looking for a place to get some coffee.

[00:03:34]Check this out. This is one of the original concrete troughs located at the foot of the Shamrock Water Tower, which was used for watering horses and wagon teams.

[00:03:47]That's pretty cool.

[00:03:50]I wonder if this water that they're watering their lawn with out back here is coming from that water tower or not.

[00:03:59]But over here we have a massive mural. I love wall murals.

[00:04:05]This one is really cool. It's got a lot of stuff on it.

[00:04:11]Talks about its early days.

[00:04:14]And the railroad, which I could hear plenty of trains last night coming through.

[00:04:20]And we got the Kaneko Tower station there, the Magnolia Gas Station up top there, which is actually about a block from me. We'll go by there later.

[00:04:38]Just look at all that stuff they have here on this down here. It refers to it as the crossroads of America because Route 66, Highway 83 and 40 roll right through here.

[00:04:52]And of course, they mention Bill Mack.

[00:04:56]Bill Mack, I believe, wrote the song Blue that was famous by Leanne Rimes way back in the 90s among other songs. I think he was a DJ as well.

[00:05:15]But yeah, that is really cool. Again, Tower Plaza right here at the base of the Shamrock Water Tower.

[00:05:28]At the corner of Second and Madden here in Shamrock, Texas, sits one of the coolest attractions in this town.

[00:05:34]probably the second most famous behind the KICO Tower station over there in the UD drop in. Right, this is the Magnolia Gas Station. And as that sign reads right there behind me, it opened May 18th, 1929.

[00:05:48]So I think we should go take a closer look at this.

[00:05:57]Last time I was in town 3 years ago, I took a picture as I drove by and that was about it.

[00:06:03]Today I want to do a little bit uh more exploring.

[00:06:08]Love that old sign here.

[00:06:19]Got that sun coming up over there to the east that's going to keep blocking our our good view here pretty soon once it gets up high enough.

[00:06:36]Yeah, look at these old pumps here.

[00:06:37]These are cool. Let's actually walk in and turn around so the sun wouldn't be fully on us here. We can get blocked.

[00:06:45]Let's look inside, I guess, first.

[00:06:48]Mobile lub lubrication.

[00:07:00]That's pretty cool. See that photo on the wall across over there that says Shamrock Main Street. You can see the station over there to the left. The water tower behind it. When I turn around here in a moment, we'll be able to see that water tower.

[00:07:19]This is pretty cool.

[00:07:22]Old wash basin.

[00:07:25]long before washing machines, right?

[00:07:32]But as we turn around, there is that water tower with these gas pumps here.

[00:07:37]Mobile gas and magnolia gasoline.

[00:07:41]These were the clear kind, right? So, you can see exactly how much gas you were getting. You can see the markers here.

[00:07:54]So it' be filled up and then as it drained into your car and come down, it tells you exactly how much gas that you would got.

[00:08:05]That's kind of cool.

[00:08:09]It's like I don't know why, but we've got uh one of the old Shamrock Fire Department fire trucks over here.

[00:08:33]So, this place opened 3 years after Route 66 was uh originally designated.

[00:08:40]It got its number on uh April 30th, 1926, but it didn't officially get commissioned until November of 1926.

[00:08:51]So, this opened in May of 29.

[00:08:55]So, right there between the two, basically, Route 66 was 3 years old.

[00:09:00]And so, this gas station does not sit on Route 66. We are a few blocks away from it, but that is what brought people to town and that's what made this gas station quite famous. The Magnolia service station is really cool. I'm glad I finally got the chance to actually stop by and see it. But there is something else that I want to see in town. So, let's go take a look at it.

[00:09:24]And that is a Blney Stone Plaza.

[00:09:34]So this little plaza talks about not only their Irish heritage, about Ireland itself, about St. Patrick, the legend of St. Patrick and the Shamrock. Looks like they really need to redo this one here about what the shamrock stands for.

[00:10:02]And of course, right over here, they actually have a piece of the blurnie stone, a true piece of the blurnie stone that sits right on top of this here. As you can see, many people have been by and dropped coins, but it says Blney Stone, imported and erected 1959, dedicated March 17th, 1959 by Zali Stakley, Secretary of the State of Texas. So, this right here is a true piece of the Bling Stone, right?

[00:10:44]That's pretty cool.

[00:10:46]Here's a sign that says, "Welcome to the Blney Stone Plaza."

[00:10:51]Irish folklore says, "You will never be for a loss of words after kissing the Blney Stone." Also known as the star stone of eloquence. Here in Shamrock, Texas, some of our locals swear their luck changed for the better after kissing this section of the Blney Stone Castle here at Shamrock's Blney Stone Plaza.

[00:11:15]Should we kiss it? I wish I'd have brought something to clean it. I don't know. What do you think?

[00:11:21]That just seems um I don't know. Maybe So, yeah, maybe I'll give this a try.

[00:11:32]Not the best camera angle, but there it is.

[00:11:39]Yeah, that was kind of weird, I have to admit, especially that angle. So, hopefully that turned out all right.

[00:11:44]But, um, you know, I have never really been one to have a loss for words, so we'll see how this goes for me.

[00:12:09]All right, let's go uh go see if we can get a little bit of breakfast so we can check this place out.

[00:12:18]Again, that is where I stayed last night at the Western Motel.

[00:12:24]And right across the street is the uh You Drop In Cafe. So hopefully they're open and we can uh we can get us a little bit of breakfast before we hit the road.

[00:12:46]I love these benches.

[00:12:51]Looks like they're open.

[00:12:54]Texas 66.

[00:13:05]Now it says howdy. Earlier it said get on get or something.

[00:13:10]It says not that smart.

[00:13:13]>> Sweet iced tea and fresh brewed sweet iced tea.

[00:13:17]Yeah.

[00:13:21]>> Hi.

[00:13:22]>> Hello.

[00:13:22]>> How are you?

[00:13:23]>> Good. Yourself?

[00:13:24]>> Good. Thank you.

[00:13:26]>> While they don't know the exact date, but evidently sometime in the late 50s, early 1960s, Elvis Presley ate right here. And that's the exact booth he sat in.

[00:13:53]Let's do um for breakfast. Can we do the breakfast burrito?

[00:13:56]>> Uh-huh. Do you want the brisket on it or do you want >> Let's do the brisket again. This will probably sound weird. I don't eat much meat, but I would like to try it. So, can it be like not in it, but like on the side of the plate? Absolutely.

[00:14:06]>> Yeah, that way. That would be awesome.

[00:14:07]Thank you.

[00:14:08]>> That would be fun. So, I'm going to put brisket breakfast burrito brisket on side.

[00:14:12]>> Yes, please.

[00:14:14]>> Now, this is something I don't normally do, but the brisket smelled so good. I definitely want to try it.

[00:14:21]>> Oh, well, you can see that.

[00:14:24]>> All right, here we go.

[00:14:27]>> Is everything good?

[00:14:28]>> Yeah.

[00:14:28]>> Oh, it's a good deal.

[00:14:35]>> What do you think? Well, I think I haven't had any kind of beef in about 10 years.

[00:14:40]>> Really?

[00:14:41]>> That was The smokiness of that is just insane. That is so good.

[00:14:49]>> That is really good. Really good. And again, I don't eat meat, so that's fantastic.

[00:15:05]Mhm.

[00:15:09]Yes.

[00:15:22]>> He had it folded really good and I destroyed it.

[00:15:25]See if I can get it get it back.

[00:15:32]Go ahead and put this one in.

[00:15:43]Love me some salsa.

[00:15:48]May have to finish this with a fork.

[00:15:58]This has been absolutely amazing. I mean, so good even with that brisket.

[00:16:03]I'm going to take the rest of that home to the dogs, I do believe. Get me an old school doggy bag, as it were. But I got to hurry up, get this done so I can go check out the gift shop, and then we got to get on down the road. Shamrock, it's been fun. I had a great time staying here last night, as well as walking around this morning, having breakfast at the U Drop in. Got uh the brisket breakfast burrito. Now, again, I don't eat a whole lot of meat like you saw me talking about, but this stuff is absolutely amazing. So glad I took that time to actually stay here and do this since they didn't open until 9:00. It's one of those things that sometimes you just got to make the executive decision if you've got the time. I don't know when I'll be back here or I can eat there again. So, I'm glad I did it now, but I'm on my way to Eric, Oklahoma.

[00:16:53]The mother road is full of quirky stops and this next one is, you know, definitely one of the quirkiest, that's for sure. I'm in Eric, Oklahoma in the western portion of Oklahoma, not too far from the Oklahoma Texas border and I'm about ready to go into the Sand Hills Curiosity Shop.

[00:17:26]You can go any place in my building and take photos.

[00:17:32]All right.

[00:17:36]Lucky it all.

[00:18:57]How many years worth of a collection is this?

[00:19:00]>> You think what?

[00:19:01]>> How many years worth of stuff? How long you figure you've been collecting all these?

[00:19:05]>> No, I'm not a collector.

[00:19:07]>> Okay.

[00:19:07]>> I've got this much and more over at my redneck castle/sitarium where I live. Uh, but I'm not a collector. I' I've just uh had so many TV crews and tour groups come here years and years ago. It's been coming. Me and my wife decided to make this like like a TV set.

[00:19:27]>> Are have you seen has it been like a lot more people coming through now because of the the the anniversary the 100 years or is it about the same as usual for you?

[00:19:37]>> Oh, I don't I don't know.

[00:19:40]Uh I I can't really say.

[00:19:44]>> Okay.

[00:19:45]>> Maybe not quite yet, but maybe eventually.

[00:19:47]>> I'm bit pretty much busy all the time.

[00:19:50]>> All the time. Well, that's good.

[00:19:51]>> I don't I don't I don't know, but I've got a lot of new tour groups that I don't know who they are coming.

[00:19:58]>> Yeah.

[00:19:59]>> Yeah. That's uh got a hold of me. And uh I don't know who they are. Looks like people that's uh decided to put a tour together because it's the it's 2026, >> right?

[00:20:15]>> And the 100redyear anniversary. So the people who actually organize the tours have some of them have contacted you said we got a group of people coming through we'll be there on these days.

[00:20:26]>> They tell me how many they tell me what time they tell me what date and all of that. Yeah.

[00:20:32]>> Okay.

[00:20:33]>> Those are people that's been coming here. Well, I've got some that I don't know who they are, but most of them have been coming here for years. Yeah.

[00:20:42]>> Nice.

[00:20:43]>> I'll be here if I'm alive.

[00:20:45]>> If we're alive. Well, >> yeah. Uh, good Lord willing.

[00:20:49]>> I've been here uh 40 years. Uh, uh, I don't know. That's me and my wife Annabelle in that black and white. See that black and white?

[00:20:59]>> Okay. Right there. Yeah. I see that over there.

[00:21:02]>> That's when we started here in 1986.

[00:21:05]>> In 86.

[00:21:07]>> Uhhuh.

[00:21:09]>> Wow.

[00:21:11]And when did she pass that? Did I >> Annabelle passed away in 2014?

[00:21:17]So 12 years.

[00:21:17]>> September 30th, 2014.

[00:21:20]>> So almost 12 years ago now. Wow.

[00:21:23]>> That's Route 66 Germany.

[00:21:26]>> Oh wow.

[00:21:26]>> Yeah. They've been coming here for several years.

[00:21:30]>> So they bring a group of people over from Germany and then they do the entire room.

[00:21:34]>> Yeah. Yeah. He'll he'll have about 25 or 30.

[00:21:39]>> Oh, nice.

[00:21:40]>> And then Dale. Here's Dale Boutell out of Australia.

[00:21:47]Uh, October 28th, July 18th, uh, April 24th.

[00:21:55]>> Oh, wow.

[00:21:55]>> 20 adults. No correction. 22.

[00:22:00]Uh, he's only got 12 in in J. Well, he's just now signing them up. And then for October, he's got 27. Hm. From Australia.

[00:22:12]>> Yeah. Well, I don't know, but he most of them probably from Australia.

[00:22:17]>> Okay.

[00:22:17]>> Yeah, I've got I've already had several.

[00:22:21]My first tour was January 8th.

[00:22:24]>> Oh, wow.

[00:22:24]>> Of this year. That was um I can't remember. It was some uh vintage car, classic car tour.

[00:22:36]uh guy named Rock Jennings from uh I think he's from Seattle or or some place up there.

[00:22:44]>> He's I think he's from Washington State.

[00:22:47]>> H >> but I'm not sure.

[00:22:50]>> So you even have groups coming through during the winter even. So >> yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:54]>> Oh wow. Yeah, I see like signs over there from like Norwegian group and then I saw somewhere >> I'll give you my twominut overview.

[00:23:04]That's part of my twominute overview.

[00:23:06]Okay, let's do it.

[00:23:07]>> Follow me. I'll give you my two minute.

[00:23:10]This is me and my wife out of mail when we started here in 1986.

[00:23:16]>> Okay.

[00:23:16]>> Okay. Step on back here.

[00:23:20]Each piece on these puzzles is individually drawn, cut out, and assembled on cardboard. This one goes back about 25 years. This is the last poster Annabelle made for Cosmos Tours out of the UK.

[00:23:36]That's a local group. That's a a TV crew there.

[00:23:42]And uh that's another one. Then here here's more posters. See there? Uh Ken.

[00:23:50]>> Wow. Look at all those.

[00:23:51]>> Those are more posters. Here's more posters down here.

[00:23:55]>> Wow.

[00:23:56]>> There's more posters over there.

[00:23:59]Here.

[00:24:13]and these posters here. Uh uh and then there's other posters up above the light fixtures out yonder.

[00:24:27]And those are posters that Annabelle made for tour groups and TV crews that come to see us on a regular basis.

[00:24:35]Here's some of Annabelle's old original vintage postcards from years ago.

[00:24:42]>> Yep.

[00:24:44]>> Wow. Look at that. Oh yeah. With the posters you see in there.

[00:24:46]>> Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah.

[00:24:49]>> Yeah. That is awesome.

[00:24:50]>> Yeah. And uh then over here, right here, the can is some of Annabelle's postcards.

[00:24:58]Then Pixar came here a couple of times.

[00:25:00]That's their artwork on the t-shirt.

[00:25:03]There we are in our redneck tuxedos with the animators. The engineers were here a couple of times. And there we are with them.

[00:25:12]>> And I think Michael Wallace is in these photos.

[00:25:16]>> Oh wow. And then CBS News from New York was here in 2000.

[00:25:21]>> That's Michael Wallace right there.

[00:25:22]>> That's me and Michael with his turn Harley.

[00:25:26]>> Yeah.

[00:25:28]>> Then CBS News from New York was here in 2001.

[00:25:33]>> Uh there's the poster Edel made for the Disney Imagineers right there.

[00:25:38]>> Yep.

[00:25:39]>> Yeah.

[00:25:40]>> And here's another good photo of y'all together.

[00:25:43]And then up here, Ken, up here is our invitation from Pixar in the world premiere of the movie Cars.

[00:25:52]>> Oh, wow.

[00:25:55]>> And then this is one of Annabelle's guitars. And that's one of her guitars that I'm using them now.

[00:26:04]Yep.

[00:26:06]So, that's my twominut overview.

[00:26:12]And this is the very first Route 66 sign posted in the state of Oklahoma.

[00:26:18]>> Oh wow.

[00:26:19]>> Yeah. It was posted in 1926.

[00:26:22]>> Wow. Look at that. Oh golly. That is heavy too.

[00:26:27]>> Well, hell yeah. That's heavy.

[00:26:31]>> Yeah. So, you say you're doing Route 6610 and I'll tell you for sure this this since you're doing the Mother Road, we're going to do it all the way from Chicago to LA. I'll give you just a little bit of a taste of what you're going to get when you get come by here.

[00:26:47]Not like this.

[00:26:53]If you have a plan to mold your way, travel my way. Take the highway. It's the best.

[00:27:04]Get your case on Route 66.

[00:27:10]Well, it from Chicago down more than 2,000 miles on the way.

[00:27:20]Get your kids on 66.

[00:27:26]Well, you go through St. Louis, Joplin, Missouri, and Oklahoma City. She's 5 Mexico.

[00:27:45]Once you get hip to this tiny trail, you may go California trail.

[00:27:55]Get your hits on route 66.

[00:28:01]Get your kick on 66.

[00:28:09]Get your kicks on route 66.

[00:28:30]And that's what you got to do if you want to be a Route 66 icon.

[00:28:39]Well, let me ask. How old are you, sir?

[00:28:42]>> I'm 80 years old.

[00:28:43]>> 80?

[00:28:44]>> Yeah. I turned 80 in uh uh December.

[00:28:50]>> December the 13th.

[00:28:53]>> Wow. So, you've been doing this for 40 years at this point. So, literally half of your life. Uh I've been here half of my life, but the first 14 years uh maybe 10 people a year walked in here.

[00:29:12]>> And uh if they were from Eric, Oklahoma, which is where we're at, they had an ulterior motive.

[00:29:20]>> Then in 1999, a tour group happened to stop here by accident. And then we got flooded with all kinds of tour groups all and all kinds of media and all kinds of dropins and you name it. Uh since 19 99 but the first 14 years uh you wouldn't believe it.

[00:29:46]>> And the you wouldn't believe what happened after 1999.

[00:29:52]But that's a story for another day.

[00:29:56]And and that's what you call a great teaser right there.

[00:29:59]>> I'm telling you for sure.

[00:30:01]>> Well, I'll tell you for sure. I'm going to put this dadum Ken's Route 66 adventure sticker just right about here.

[00:30:12]Oh yeah.

[00:30:16]Oh, see now now I feel like I've I've made it. I am on the wall at the Sand Hills Curiosity Shop. And not only that, Harley Russell put it up there for me.

[00:30:27]So that is amazing.

[00:30:32]>> Get your kicks on Route 66 and if you hurt yourself, make sure it feels good.

[00:30:36]Oh hey, and one other thing.

[00:30:46]Oh my freaking goodness, that was beyond amazing. a one-on-one with the Route 66 legend, an icon, Harley Russell, here at Sand Hills Curiosity Shop in Eric, Oklahoma.

[00:31:00]You just don't really get that chance.

[00:31:02]Usually, like he is saying, there's a lot of groups that come through. So, for it to be just me. Interesting part about that is I didn't ever tell him my name, he caught it off the shirt and he continued to call me Ken. So, that's absolutely fantastic. I had an amazing time. But now, as with anything, now I'm running a little bit behind. So, we got a quick stop to make in Ser. It's going to be a quick one before we head on down the road to hydro.

[00:31:38]Right here in Sarah, Oklahoma sits the Beckham County Courthouse. Built in 1911 and still standing as one of the most recognizable landmarks along Route 66 in western Oklahoma. With its classic dome and red brick design, it's been the center of this community for over a century. But what really makes it special is its place in Hollywood history. It appeared in the 1940 film The Grapes of Wrath, helping tell the story of Dust Bowl families headed west on Route 66. So when you're standing here, you're not just looking at a courthouse. You're standing near a piece of both Oklahoma history and American film history.

[00:32:19]So, as I said, it was just going to be a quick stop there to see the Beckham County Courthouse.

[00:32:24]Um, I would like to spend some time here in S. Walk around a little bit if I could. That was the plan for today, but after spending uh a good hour or so there with Harley Russell at Sand Hills Curiosity Shop, plans change. I was hoping to get home today between 3 and 4 with the next couple stops that I still want to make. That doesn't look like it's going to be possible, but it'll be close. So, it's worth it. But I will have to come back sometime to S to spend a little bit more time. But right now, according to my GPS, I've got 66 miles until my next stop, just outside Hydro, Oklahoma, sits one of the most beloved stops in all of Route 66, Lucille's service station. It was built in 1929 and became famous thanks to Lucille Hammonds, known as the mother of the mother road. After a fire destroyed her first station, she rebuilt here in 1941 and just turned it into something more than a place to get gas.

[00:33:29]Lucille was known for helping stranded travelers, feeding hungry families, and even extended credit during the Great Depression when people had nothing left.

[00:33:38]For many heading west during the Dust Bowl, this wasn't just a stop, it was a lifeline. Today, the station stands as a powerful reminder of the human side of Route 66, where kindness, resilience, and the spirit of the open road all come together right here in western Oklahoma.

[00:33:58]So, I'm sitting here at Lucille's. This is her old service station, right? She worked right here. She lived upstairs literally until the day she died. And she is buried not too far from here. So, we definitely want to go pay our respects to the mother of the mother road. Now, if you don't know much about Lucille, you really need to because again, there's a reason why they call her the mother of the mother road. She was amazing. She's the one that welcomed everybody right here. And sometimes if you didn't have quite just enough cash to buy what you needed, she made sure you got it. She was one of those kind.

[00:34:39]She's somebody I really wish that I had the opportunity to meet, but I most certainly didn't. And that's that's a bummer because she seems so genuine like well like everybody's grandma, right?

[00:34:51]And that's probably why they referred to her as the mother of the mother road because she took care of everybody, made sure everybody was okay, even above herself. It feels like and smells like we've got a storm coming in and it's going to be here soon from the looks of it. So, I want to head into the town of Hydro and not only see where Lucille is from, but visit her final resting place.

[00:35:21]Just moments after leaving Lucille Station, my phone blew up with this, a tornado watch. I knew I could see it. I could smell it. I knew a storm was coming. And sure enough, so I needed to hurry up.

[00:35:53]This is Hydro, Oklahoma, a small town with a name that hinted at bigger ambitions.

[00:35:58]Founded in the early 1900s, Hydro was originally expected to benefit from a major irrigation project, hence the name Hydro. But when those plans fell through, the town didn't disappear. It adapted and it grew thanks to agriculture and later the arrival of Route 66.

[00:36:16]When the mother road came through in 1926, hydro became a natural stop for travelers crossing western Oklahoma. Gas stations, cafes, and small businesses popped up to serve folks making their way west, and the town found its place in the rhythm of the open road.

[00:36:33]Today, Hydro is quiet, but it still carries the Route 66 spirit. Landmarks like the place we just were, Lucille Service Station, remind us that even the smallest towns played big roles in helping people chase opportunity, adventure, and a better life along America's most famous highway.

[00:37:13]Just outside Hydro sits the Hydro Masonic Cemetery. A quiet place that tells a deeper story of this community.

[00:37:21]Established in the early 1900s, it's the final resting place for many of its town's early settlers, farmers, and families who built life here on the Oklahoma Plains.

[00:37:32]Walking through, you'll find generations of history etched in stone. Names that connect directly to Hydro's beginnings and its Route 66 era. Like so many small town cemeteries along the Mother Road, this isn't just a burial ground. It's a reminder that behind every stop on Route 66, there were real people, real struggles, and real lives that made these towns what they are today.

[00:38:00]So, we're here in Hydro, Oklahoma at the Hydro Masonic Cemetery. And the entrance is just right over here somewhere back that way. Um, and it doesn't take long to pull in right to here. And if you know exactly what you're looking for, it's not hard to find at all because it's the one that's right there behind me that reads Route 66 on it.

[00:38:24]Lucille is buried right next to her husband Carl, whose headstone actually caught my attention, too. It said that he died in 1971. He was born in 1909, but died in 1971, so several years before her. And it also reads was born, lived, and died within a onem triangle of Hydro, Oklahoma. Whereas Miss Lucille's reads that she was the mother of the mother road. Her biography was published in 1997.

[00:38:52]her song recorded in 1999. She became a member of the Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame in 1999.

[00:39:00]She was born April 13th, 1915. Died August 18th, 2000. Born Lucille Arthur's in Abington, Illinois. She died at her home on Route 66 in Oklahoma.

[00:39:14]I really wonder if she knew before she passed away just how many people's lives she's influenced and how many people would want to come out here to see this right here, her marker, who visit her station, who visit the restaurant that carries her name to this day. Now, they even have a hotel there in Weatherford that carries her name as well. They're doing a lot to continue her legacy. And I I just got to hope that wherever she is, she knows. Somehow she knows because of the person she was when she was down here on Earth.

[00:39:52]These are things that are still going on. People are wanting to continue her legacy of kindness. And that's just that's just fantastic to me. But I really really hope that she knows these things somehow someway.

[00:40:07]But we'll never know, I suppose.

[00:40:09]Maybe, maybe we will. Maybe when my day comes and they put me into one of these cemeteries, maybe I'll know those answers. But until then, I'm only left to wonder.

[00:40:21]And Miss Lucille, thank you. Thank you for something you started that people are still passing on. The kindness from the mother of the mother road. So, that's it. That's the end of this uh threeday series here for this part of one of my uh Ken's Route 66 adventures. I thank you so much for watching this with me. I can think of no better place to end this video than right here, right next to the grave of Miss Lucille Hammonds, of course, the mother of the mother road. So, I do appreciate you watching. If you haven't already hit that subscribe button for me, please do. I would greatly appreciate it. helps me continue this channel to be able to bring you even more Route 66 content. And we've got plenty coming up. So, hit subscribe down below there for me. Give me a thumbs up, drop a comment, and I'll see you on the next mile of Route 66.