[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 86 (Friday, June 30, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1159-E1160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CELEBRATING THE HISTORY OF THE MOTHER ROAD: BARSTOW OPENS A ROUTE 66 
                                 MUSEUM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JERRY LEWIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 29, 2000

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, this will be a very special 
Independence Day in Barstow, California where we will celebrate the 
opening of a museum commemorating Route 66, the Mother Road that led 
millions of Americans west to the promise of unlimited dreams and 
horizons in the Golden State.
  The opening of the museum on July 4 will provide a delightful 
reminder that the towns and cities of my district provided the 
hospitality and welcome to most of those Americans making the long 
drive West. Barstow was--and remains--a friendly oasis from the hours-
long drive across the great Mojave Desert.
  Visitors will have a chance to remember the exciting early days of 
driving America's highways with old photographs, road signs and a 
vintage 1926 Dodge touring sedan. The museum has visionary plans of 
returning Barstow to its status as a way station along the desert 
highways.
  It is especially commendable that this museum will be an anchor for 
another older reminder of the history of Western travel: The Casa del 
Desierto Harvey House, a historic stop opened for travelers in 1911 on 
the Santa Fe Railway's trains to and from California. Thousands of 
train travelers each year stopped to marvel at this towering adobe 
palace and be served food by the famous Harvey Girls in its elegant 
dining rooms. This magnificent depot and hotel, which has been placed 
on the National Register of Historic Places, has been fully restored 
and returned to use through the efforts of Barstow's civic leaders and 
volunteers.
  The location of the Route 66 Museum in this historic railroad 
structure will provide modem travelers with a fascinating window into 
the past, and should make Barstow even more of a popular stopover along 
desert highways.
  This new museum will add to the reputation of San Bernardino County 
as one of the top destinations for those who are fans of Route 66 
history. It joins another fine museum in Victorville, another historic 
Mojave Desert way-station, and the San Bernardino Route 66 Rendezvous 
classic car festival, which draws 600,000 visitors each September in 
one of the nation's largest free-admission events.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in congratulating 
Barstow and its citizens for renewing their city's rightful place as 
one of the welcoming points to California, and one of the highlights 
along Route 66, the Mother Road.

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