Checking Out the Cucamonga Service Station on Route 66
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- Опубликовано: 26 сен 2024
- The Cucamonga Service Station dates back over 100 years, and predates Route 66 by a decade. There was once 1000s of service stations like this throughout the country. The service station was built in 1915 and has somehow managed to survive till today, and is the last remaining building of its type on Route 66 in California.
While it hasn't been a working service station since the 1970s, visiting today is like stepping back in time. Beautifully restored to its days as a Richfield Oil Station, the building now hosts a museum. This is one of the coolest places to stop on Route 66 in the Inland Empire.
The station was declared a historic landmark by the city of Rancho Cucamonga in 2019 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
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My mom is 87 years old. She was born in a farmhouse not too far from here. (Corner of Archibald and 19th.) She lives with me now in Upland, but she used to get gas here way back when. Thanks for the video and making her day!
That is awesome! Glad we could help.
The reason we enjoy your videos so much is because we've been to all the spots you've shown so far. Its a great way to enjoy them again and not buy $4.70 gas... You could spend a lifetime traveling California and never see it all so keep them coming.
That's one thing I love about RUclips. There's no way to go everywhere but love being able to see what's out there.
Thank you for this video! My mom is almost 94 and we used to fuel up at this gas station. Her siblings and she were born and raised in ("old") Cucamonga & this video brings back many memories.
I remember this place from my Route 66 cruises a few decades ago.
Driving thru that area as a kid I remember a lot of boarded up and abandoned buildings along the route.
Not realizing what I was looking at when I was 6 or 7 years old, I had no appreciation of the history behind alot of it, the way I would now.
Some people just drive by and say oh look at the old gas Station. Where I look at it as my Grandparents could have stopped there for fuel in the 1930s heading to and from Oklahoma.
I feel the same way. I think of my grandparents coming to California and wondering if I'm at a place they may have stopped. Rancho Cucamonga has done a great job overall with Route 66. Even the McDonalds across the street from the service station has some nice touches.
Old disabled house bound dusty rusty rockhound here: My family loaded up the Chevy and explored the middle and western U.S.A. every summer from 1963 to 1979. We kid's kept a list rating each gas station restroom. Our criteria: color of tile, color of Borax powdered hand soap, paper v.s. roller cloth dispensed towels.. and cleanliness. . Texaco always won ... unless we visited a station with a resident dog 🐕 !
That is a really cool story. I like the criteria also. When I lived in New York city there were very few public bathrooms so I had the same kind of rating system
Going to Arkansas as a family twice a year to see other family, Route 66 was our home. We would turn more east at Tulsa, but the whole trip was home. Thanks for putting these videos together.
That brings back memories. My family took several Kentucky to California scenic summer trips in the 60s when Route 66 was intact. I remember all the restaurants, diners, taverns, motels and gas stations were all unique and all the signs and neon. It was mesmerizing. Definitely more interesting than how everything is the same coast to coast today. I’m glad a community put forth the effort to preserve a wonderful piece of everyday history. Thanks for your presentation. 👍☮️🌞⭐️🌴⛽️
There was an Atlantic Richfield station next to the bank and market in my hometown.
Each Friday, we would go to the bank, market, and the Richfield station. The proprietor was really friendly. He always had some kind of snack for us. My grandpa often talked about those "gravity fed" pumps. The bottle had to be filled multiple times depending on how much fuel was purchased.
Use to live in Alta Loma went to Chaffey College and drove and pass that place hundreds of time on my way to work love Rancho back in the 90s and early 2000s so much bulding and housing new freeways wow would of thought I would be wrting this from Europe living here more than 14 years,wow miss Rancho!
Grew up near there. I don't remember seeing it. Of course in my day it may have been more run down. That's Mount Cucamonga in the background, and the foothills were my childhood haunts.
WOW now that was the coolest reveal, what a time capsule.
I went up to Rancho Cucamonga about 25 years ago to just drive up and down on Route 66. I'm pretty sure I did not notice this station as it would have just been a worn out old building then. Well I think it's time to cruise up there again to check it out and anything else that may be up there.
Great to see such impressive restoration work on Rt. 66 CA.
I love this place. I live about 20 minutes from there.
Super cool!! Glad they kept the building instead if demolishing it.
Me too. its amazing when you think how it sat there for 40 years before getting restored too.
Thank you ! Another fun installment.
Glad you enjoyed it.
You're right, that is an amazing site. Thanks for sharing it.
Our pleasure!
theres a richfield station in lemon cove ca , actually 3 old stations , thanks for an great video
Thank you. Love the history.
My father-in-law, Fred Hollaway, used to work there. An Alta Loma resident, he also drove a school bus part time, and went to Chaffee College, when it was on the Chaffee High School campus, to become an aircraft mechanic. We were quite relieved when the filling station was saved, and look forward to seeing the garage get rebuilt.
That is fantastic.
Amazing that there used to be hundreds of these stations and this is the first one I have ever seen.
Glad the city didn't tear it down for another strip mall.
Yeah, its amazing it lasted, especially looking at all the buildings around it.
I used to walk past here in the early 70's the garage was still in good condition back then. There was Dee's Diner on the left side of this and a row of old houses going to Klusman Rd. Hardly anything left of old Cucamonga. Progress and greed did away with it all.
It would be great to see the garage portion rebuild with vintage lifts, tools, and maybe even a car or two!
There likely was no 'lift' in the station's earliest tears. More likely a pit.
Thanks for the documentation. There is a very similar Magnolia station in Shamrock Tx, a few blocks south of Route 66.
Hoping to head that way later this year, hopefully we can check it out.
@@SidetrackAdventures Shamrock has 2 winners. The other is the famous Tower Conoco from Cars.
This is a great YT channel. Thank you for your efforts...
Thank you!
@@SidetrackAdventures My pleasure. :)
I'll definitely have to check it out!
Very cool old building 👍 Whenever you get out to New Mexico, I believe the Whiting Bros gas station in Moriarty is the last one on 66. Doesn’t sell gas anymore usually a few old timers there visiting.
Oh wow, we passed through there in October on our way to the Center of NM. Will have to look for it on our next trip through.
One of my friends is a docent here, a few days ago he gave me a personal tour. It's not a big place, but is worth the stop if this kind of stuff interests you.
Drove by it almost every day from 1994 thru 2017. I used to deliver beer in that area, in fact that is Carl's Liquor directly across the street. Located on the NW corner of Foothill Blvd. (Hwy 66) and Archibald I watched the restoration taking place, very cool and interesting!
Such a cool place. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Before I was 2 years old my family drove Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. Dont remember anything of that trip! Thru the years we traveled various sections which I do remember. Lately I've hit a few sections mostly as gas & eats side trips off I-40. Had to take a picture of my flatbed on the corner in Winslow.
Thanks for another great video!
Thank you. We don't have a flatbed ourselves but we noticed they have one parked at the corner in Winslow now, at least on our last few visits, which is a cool touch.
Super intéressant pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine local. Hâte de le découvrir.
Happy to know it’s still there. Oh man, if those walls could talk. Drove by it in the 1970s on our way to Pasadena. Greetings from Florida..!
Yeah, you never know who may have stopped by there to fill up on gas in all those years.
Very cool
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
What a fun video! Thank you! It goes on my bucket list.
Thank you for checking it out.
Man! Had no idea that was the last of it's kind in California. Feel like I've seen so many like it on our travels! 😅 Glad that it was able to be saved and restored though!
I'm amazed this one even survived, especially since all around it is strip malls and fast food places.
This was pre-Atlantic Richfield and then ARCO.
I used a hand crank once to get gasoline on an Indian Reservation without a gas station! It didn't have the bubble on top but it had a gauge. The owner told me just to tell him how much gasoline I pumped, he never checked! You could trust people back then!
There is a gas station in Kings Canyon, CA, that is the oldest operating with gravity fed gas pumps.
I'll have to check that out.
I love the architecture of these old buildings. Why can't they build aesthetically pleasing buildings like this now, instead of the soul-less cookie-cutter things that are everywhere?
Fantastic building in great color and decor. Too bad about that hideous billboard so close.
My son and I were there for the groundbreaking for the restoration. The interior was completly gone and looked like it had been burned. Haven't been back since. Time for another road trip.
That's really cool. Looking at the pictures pre-restoration its amazing what they've done with it.
Richfield is the "R" in Arco after it merged with "A"tlantic Oil.
There is an old Richfield sign still standing at the corner of 18th and Palm Ave. in National City CA. The building is now a taco shop but you can tell that it once was a gas station very similar to this one. I tried to buy the sign but the man who owns the property wanted way too much than I was willing to spend, so it hangs there wasting away to the elements. If you google map it you can see it.
Oh wow. I'll have to check that out next time I'm down there.
I used to live near there. I remember getting gas there.
Another great video. How do you figure out your trips and are they always on pavement road-trips?
Usually I just see what's around where we are already going or if I hear about a place that seems interesting I'll check it out. For this video we were driving home and passed by and realized it was open so we stopped. Totally unplanned. Most the places on the channel can be accessed with a normal car but there are a few videos we've done on places that require a hike to get to the final destination like Fort Bowie.
Richfield is the “R” in ARCO, you know. Atlantic Richfield Company, home of Richfield Boron gasoline.
I actually had no idea. Wow! That's pretty cool.
Thank you for the reply and posting such a great video. My grandfather owned and operated a Gilmore station in Sacramento at the NE corner of 15 and L street in the 1940’s and early 50’s. It was kitty corner from Capitol Park. Long gone now of course. I still have one picture of it.
I'm glad you posted a comment about what the "R" stands for in ARCO. Not many people know.
My favorite high rise in Los Angeles was the Richfield Building, a beautiful art deco structure topped by a tall derrick. However, it was torn down in 1969. The Arco Towers now stand on the site.
I may be Captain obvious, but I'll say it anyway: Richfield became Atlantic Richfield, which is now ARCO.
I lived not far from there it's a cool looking place yes a blast from the past they need to park an old car in the station a car from that time ,,and how much was gasoline back then maybe 10 cents a gallon or 5 yeah look at gasoline now ,,Yikes
😀
Disappointing that they don't sell gasoline.
It's like a pub with no beer.
The station is neat but that gaudy Lamar sign has got to go.
I didn’t know there was a real town called Cucamonga. I thought it was a made up place in Bugs Bunny cartoons.
Buy a "Commemroative" brick? Oh dear...
What a waste of time, money & resources. What's so great about keeping it? Better to raze it and build something that will BENEFIT people! 🙄🙄🙄 Not everyone is enthralled with old, worn out dilapidated stuff.
Thanks for giving me an escape from my usual, daily world!
Our pleasure. Thank you for watching.
Cool.