Long forgotten: the Pinewood Motor Court, Hwy. U.S. 80, Vicksburg

The Pinewood Motor Court was located east of Vicksburg on historic US 80, formerly the Dixie Overland Highway. The restaurant and motel have been closed since 1979.

The art moderne building was a restaurant. A 1950s post card labeled it as Cassino's Pinewood Grill."

The sign must have been impressive in its day, blazing with incandescent lights. I wonder if they flashed in a pattern in the direction of the arrow? Unfortunately, the "Pinewood" and "Grill" signs are gone.

When I moved to Vicksburg, the restaurant was still intact, but some of the motel units had been semi-deconstructed. The roofs were off, and you could see the cheerful pink tiles of the showers and lavatories.

In the early 1980s, an office in the middle of the parking lot was still intact.

The attendant in the office could survey the motel units and ensure that proper morals were maintained (or that no African Americans tried to check in).

Here are two samples of the same scene, one color and the other monochrome. Which tells the story better? These are scans of 4×5" Fujichrome 50 and Kodak Tri-X film from a Tachihara camera.

Preservation Mississippi wrote about the Pinewood in 2014. Read some of the comments for background information. A 2005 Vicksburg Post article summarized some of the history:

“My mother and father bought the first few acres in 1939,” said Gay Strong, who owns the Pinewood property on U.S. 80.  

At that time, U.S. 80 was the main all-weather, east-west highway from Savannah, Ga., to San Diego. When Richard and Mary Jo Cassino Strong first bought the land from the Dees family, a small grocery occupied the property. 

“Dad named it the Parkway Inn,” Strong said. 

Though busy before, the highway really became heavily traveled during World War II with convoys of military trucks rumbling through. After the war, the traffic scarcely diminished as more people bought automobiles and personal travel took off. In 1940 and 1941, the Strongs built the first eight motel units on the east end of the property adjacent to the building that housed the restaurant. In the 1950s, they built the 14 units on the west end of the property. 

“The restaurant was originally called the Pinewood Gardens,” Strong said. “I guess because we had so many flowers planted around it.” 

Later the popular eatery was called the Pinewood Grill. The original restaurant building burned in 1950. 

Strong said Mike Guido and Marie Angelo operated the restaurant after the Strongs, and Gay Strong’s uncle Frank Cassino took it over after the 1953 tornado destroyed his Vicksburg Candy Co. Cassino moved his restaurant to Openwood and Jackson street in the 1960s. 

“When we first started it, I guess you would call it a family affair,” Strong said. “It was Mama and Daddy and me.” She said the cooks were from the U.S. Army Corps of  Engineers fleet. 

“We had fresh eggs. We grew our own vegetables,” she said. The intestate highways began being built in this area in the late ’50s and early ’60s, and that wrote the death warrants for the Pinewood and many other motels and restaurants along the old U.S. highway system. 

By the 1970s, the Strongs could see the end coming. They tried to stave it off by renting the old motel rooms, which had kitchens, as efficiency apartments, to construction workers by the week and month. The end finally came and they closed the Pinewood in late 1979.

The photographs above are from 35mm Kodachrome 25 film, Fujichrome 50 in 4×5" size, and Kodak Tri-X 400.

Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66: Part 14, Tucumcari, New Mexico

Ranch House Cafe, Tucumcari, NM. Kodak BW400CN film, Yashica Electro 35CC camera, polarizer filter.

Tucumcari is a Route 66 explorer's delight. It is chock full of closed or venerable motels, stores, and other 1950s detritus. According to the Route 66 Adventure Handbook (by Drew Knowles), Tucumcari is known by people around the globe for its quintessential Route 66 cultural artifacts. As usual, I should have spent more time here with real film; the example above shows the potential.

Driving in from the west, one of the first places you encounter is the old Paradise Motel and Cafe. Well, it is not much of a paradise today. The main motel building looks like 1960s architecture; the Sinclair gas station possibly a bit older?

 You can stay at the Buckaroo Motel. The office looks relatively modern, but the Buckaroo sign has a 1960s or 1970s appearance.

This Esso station also has a 1960s vibe. According to Wikipedia, Esso (ˈɛsoʊ) was an acronym for Eastern States Standard Oil, one of the many companies spun off from Standard Oil in 1932. In 1972, most ESSO branded stations were replaced with the EXXON name.

Here is another abandoned filling station with not enough information to identify its original brand.

Here is the Magnolia - possibly another Esso Texaco Teague Type C.

If you are hungry, the Ranch House Cafe (see the black and white frame at the beginning of this article) or Rubee's Diner will not be of much culinary use.

But divert from Route 66 and go downtown, and the El Pueblito Cafe is open.

And the La Cita with its Mexican Hat will serve you Mexican meals. The menu looked good but it was the wrong time for lunch.

There is a scattering of Art Deco architecture downtown, although not nearly as spectacular as you see in Albuquerque. The theatre is still operating, according to the Route 66 Adventure Handbook. Good for it!

The Tucumcari Depot is another one of the handsome mission-style Santa Fe railroad stations. It has been restored and contains a railroad museum.

Some of the commercial buildings downtown have decayed and collapsed. It is sad, another American small town that was once bustling and active.

Back to Route 66 at the east side of town, we have two more old-style motels, the Blue Swallow and the Tucumcari Inn. The Blue Swallow was built in the 1940s from surplus WWII cabins. I do not know if they are still present. Tucumcari Inn has seen better days - at $29.95, a long time ago (unless that was the hourly rate).

With a rather nondescript Polly Gas, we come to the end of Tucumcari. This is a quintessential Route 66 town and worth a return when I have more time and have black and white film.

The color frames are from a Fujifilm X-E1 digital camera with various lenses. The first photograph is from Kodak BW400CN film. This is a C-41 type of film, meaning it can be developed in the same chemicals as any color print film. Years ago, almost any drug store or film kiosk in a mall could develop C-41, but now you need to send the film to a professional laboratory.  I often use Praus Productions in Rochester, New York, or Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine.

Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66: Part 9, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Dear readers, it is time to complete the story of my 2016 west-to-east excursion on the Mother Road. 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, was always a major stopping point for travelers on Route 66. It was the "big city," with motels, movies, entertainment, groceries, and repair services. Coming in from the west from the Pecos River crossing, Route 66 merged with or became Central Avenue, a major east-west corridor through town. The western outskirts were lined with motels to serve the weary 66 traveler. 

Entering town on Central Avenue, the El Vado was ready to welcome visitors with a comfortable room and a place to park their car. Open since 1936, it had recently closed when I drove by in April of 2016. Had millions really stayed there as per the sign? Regardless, the units looked to be in good condition, so I do not know why they closed. Many of these Route 66 motels were built in Mission Style with tile roofs, protruding timbers, and white painted stucco walls. They were clearly meant to evoke the the "old west" as well as emulate the popular Alamo Plazas, which were America's first motel chain, founded by a Waco, Texas hotelier, Mr. Edgar Lee Torrance. The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement which was inspired by the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California.

Other lodgings, like this 21 Motel at 2411 Central Avenue, were still in business, but had a distinctly dive ambience (I passed). 

 

Route 66 continued east into downtown, In my short stopover, it looked like much of the inner core of the city is pretty dumpy, but Central Avenue has been partly revived and gentrified. The merchants were certainly capitalizing on the Route 66 theme.

Some of the stores have spectacular examples of western art (OK, western kitsch) in their architecture.

The famous KiMo Theatre at 423 Central Ave. NW is restored and operational. It was built in 1927 in an extravagant "Art Deco-Pueblo Revival Style" (I did not know such a style existed). As an example of the decorative elements, look at the handsome door handles. The KiMo is a popular site for paranormal investigators. The KiMo is reputed to have a ghost.

Near the KiMo, you see traditional 1920s office blocks interspersed with newer construction. Along Central Ave., they have been cheerfully painted and adorned with plenty of Route 66 signs.

Dear Readers, we will have one more article, and then that will be it for my 2016 trip on the Mother Road. Thank you for reading along. Next road trip: the Mother Road in the Great Plains. And next time, I will use black and white film.

Washington Street Motels, Vicksburg, Mississippi

South Washington Street was once the main entry route to Vicksburg for travelers coming from the South on Highway 61.  Also, drivers coming from Louisiana and Texas would have crossed the old Mississippi River bridge, turned left, and driven north on Washington Street to reach town.  To cater to travelers, several motels lined Washington Street. Today, only the Dixiana is left. Let's take a tour from south to north.

This is the old Mississippi River bridge, photographed in 1994 before the multi-floor parking garage was built, which partly blocks this view. The bridge has been closed to car traffic since the early-1990s, but Kansas City Southern railroad runs trains across the river many times a day. Numerous people have proposed opening a biking and walking trail on the old roadway, but petty squabbles and lack of imagination have squashed these plans to date. Can you imagine what a fantastic tourist attraction this would be, a chance to walk or jog high above one of the world's great waterways?  This is a photograph taken with a Fuji GW690II 6×9 camera on Fuji Velvia film.

This is a view looking west of the old bridge from the banks of the river. You can reach this site easily by parking in the Ameristar Casino parking lot and walking south through the woods. Just look out for snakes.

This is the Ameristar Casino Hotel. It sticks up from the flat bluff like some Neolithic monolith. The Magnolia Inn occupied this site before the new hotel was built. A coworker's wife worked at reception at the older motel in the late-1980s, and was fired when she let a black couple check in.  Before the Magnolia was built, it was an empty field where the carnival set up temporary quarters.  (Photograph:  Kodachrome 25 film taken with a Leica M3 and 90mm Tele-Elmarit lens.)

Heading North we reach the Dixiana Inn, still in business. It is a venerable establishment and has been here for decades. There is a view from the bluff at Louisiana Circle.

Plaza Motel, Washington Street

Next, to the north, is the former Plaza Motel at 4033 Washington Street. I think these units are now apartments, but am not sure. The main building resembles a World War II barracks, similar to two units in an apartment complex next to the Waterways Experiment Station.

This is the view north on Washington Street near the ramp that drops steeply to Diamond Jacks Casino.

This was very unusual: an art-deco filling station that had been converted into apartments.  The service bay had been enclosed with a plywood wall.  Did people sleep in there?  I wonder if there were fumes from old spilled oil and solvent? The filling station was periodically repainted with the characteristic red stripes to accentuate the horizontal lines. The sepia-color print was made on Polaroid 4×5" instant sepia film with a 75mm Super-Angulon lens.  It was a wonderful emulsion.

Riverview Motel, Vicksburg, Mississippi

Just to the north was the Riverview Motel, an old-fashioned motor court. It was located at about 4009 Washington Street, near the bend in the road, and it did have a great view.

This map, with 1995 building footprints, shows the former Riverview Motel.

The Riverview and the filling station/apartment were demolished in 1995.

Proceed further north, and as far as I know, there were no more motels. But there was another filling station, now a car detail shop. There is not much commercial activity on Washington Street now. I assume the I-20 corridor siphoned it away, along with general decline in industrial activity.

Children of Washington Street, Vicksburg

Finally, some of the local children were interested in my Leica camera and agreed to pose for an informal portrait.