In Tulsa, locals have revived a stretch of Route 66—one roadside big at a time

(As Route 66 turns 100, go to the tip of the street in sunny Santa Monica.)

Kerbside renaissance

Much like its Muffler Men, Route 66 peaked within the post-war growth years, when the automobile was king and the open street pulsed with chance. But by 1985, it was formally decommissioned, its upkeep funds dried up, bypassed by streamlined highways promising a faster journey. Like many neighbourhoods alongside it, the Meadow Gold District fell on exhausting instances, its storefronts shuttered and buildings deserted. “Drivers used to skip right past Tulsa,” recollects Mary Beth. “There just weren’t enough attractions here to justify a stop.”

That all modified in 2018, when she opened Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios inside a mid-century gasoline station. “I grew up with petrol in my veins, driving along Route 66,” she says. “I thought, why not?” The tiny retailer turned a pit cease for graphic prints, logoed T-shirts and miniature bobble-head fashions of the enormous standing close by.

A revival caught on like wildfire. Warehouses and garages remodeled into artwork galleries and hip eating places. A vinyl file store, burger joint and a tiny artwork deco museum opened, ignored by a nine-metre Meadow Gold signal salvaged from a former dairy. Mary Beth added a market known as Meadow Gold Mack, giving homegrown creatives an area to promote their wares. And a posse of colossal figures sprang up — Cowboy Bob, in addition to a cosmic cowgirl, area cowboy and lumberjack, quickly to be joined by Rosie the Riveter — inviting drivers to show the wheel, pull over and keep awhile.