From National Trails Highway the neon reads for miles, like a mirage in the middle of the desert. Under it, a row of identical white cabins, gas pump, and a café that has been closed more years than open.
Roy Crowl opened a gas and service station here in 1938, after Route 66 was realigned through Amboy. With his son-in-law Herman “Buster” Burris he added a café, a garage, and cabins. The 50-foot sign went up in 1959, Burris ran the motel & cafe it until the late 1970s. Amboy had about 700 people when the road was the road. Interstate 40 took the traffic in 1972 and the town emptied around the motel.
The gas station was re-opened in 2008, and sells souvenirs, though the café and cabins still remain dormant. This location is a retro relic that combines vintage architecture with desert isolation, to create a truly dreamlike atmosphere.
Key features include:
- 1959 Googie neon sign, visible for miles on the old highway
- 1938 gas station grown into café, garage, and cabin court
- Row of identical, empty cabins
- One of the last intact mid-century stops on this stretch of the Mojave
Photo credits: “Roy’s Motel and Cafe” by Cindy Shebley, CC BY 2.0 , “Roy’s” by WayofWindy, CC BY 2.0 , “dusty couch in empty motel room” by Cindy Shebley, CC BY 2.0 , “Once upon a time in Amboy. Roy’s Motel/Cafe. Amboy, CA” by Kathy Drasky, CC BY 2.0 , “” by Kevin Chang, CC BY-ND 2.0 , “Roy’s Motel and Café” by Virginia Hill, CC BY-ND 4.0 ,
