Tee Pee Drive-In Theater (Satellite)
The view from the original Route 66.
The view from the current Route 66 (OK-66).
The Route 66 mural:
The bridge and mural:
Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum (Satellite) and World's Tallest Gas Pump (Satellite)
The sign did its job. I did not notice the museum until I looked closer at the sign.
Here is a more legit version of the sign pump.
And the museum has at least one other gravity fed pump.
And they have the rather common pump with a round window so that you can see the gas flow.
They do rotate at least some of the cars.
I've never seen this gas pump model before. The must have quickly evolved the digital displays that showed the price as well as the gallons pumped so that the attendant would not have to do some multiplication. I'm thinking about what kind of calculator could multiply in the 1930s. It would have to be mechanical. By dialing in the price of a gallon, it would be a lot easier to display the price as it pumped than to try to multiply afterwards.
They have some engines on display. I think that is a supercharger on top of this engine.
And they have a transmission.
Intersection of US-66 and US-75 (Satellite)
Former Texaco Station (Satellite)
Maybelle Fortunato posted three images with the comment:
"The earliest record we have of the H.P. Bowles Texaco service station at 301 E. Dewey on Route 66 is from the 1946 Sapulpa, Oklahoma, directory. He had two stations, and this is the second, rebuilt in 1950. The first photo of the station shows that the grand opening is underway, with cars and people waiting in lines. The second photo was taken in 1979, and the final photo is the building today as a bail bonds business.
The first photo is courtesy of the Sapulpa Historical Society, and the final photo is from Google Maps, dated 2023."
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A1 Auto Repair/Former Gas Station (Satellite)
I wonder what brand this station used to sell. At least the service bays are being used for their intended function.
You can tell that Sapulpa has some industries because there are fewer tourist traps in this town than you see in towns in New Mexico and Arizona.
The Sapulpa Trolley (Satellite), Caboose (Satellite) and Tulsa Sapulpa Union Railway (TSU)
I missed this while cruising, but I noticed the label on a satellite map. Added the label "rrInterurban" because of this exhibit. The reason I missed it is because it is across the road from the above mural and the mural is what caught my attention.
And then I discovered that there is a caboose behind the trolley.
This must be the headquarters of the Tulsa Sapulpa Union Railway (TSU)
A history confirms that TSU was an interurban railroad that because a shortline.
"The Sapulpa & Interurban Railway built a line from Sapulpa to Mounds in 1908 and operated as an electric interurban line for the purpose of transporting oil field workers from the Tulsa area to the Sapulpa oil fields. The company went bankrupt in 1912 and merged with the Oklahoma Union Railway, which had built a line from Tulsa to Sapulpa. The Mounds-Sapulpa line was abandoned in 1928, and the company went bankrupt the following year. Passenger service ended in 1933. In September 1933 the railway was incorporated as the Sapulpa Union Railway. The following year the railroad became a corporation, and the name changed to the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway. The railroad converted from electric to diesel operation in 1959." [
UP]
"The Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway Co. (TSU) is a small Oklahoma shortline railway that operates between Sapulpa and Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is one of Oklahoma's oldest operating railroads with origins dating back to 1907. The railroad operates trackage between Tulsa and Sapulpa serving St. Gobain Glass Plant, Prescor Inc., Greenbay Packaging Inc, Atlantis Plastics, CG Martin Company and Technotherm Corporation. The railway also operates trackage between Tulsa and Jenks, Oklahoma on behalf of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP). This trackage serves Sinclair Oil Refinery, Kentube, Word Industries, Pepsi Cola Co., and Kimberly Clark Corporation. TSU has a direct connection with the Union Pacific in Tulsa, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad in Sapulpa, serving customers throughout the Tulsa Metropolitan area." [
SapulpaHistory]
Old Gas Station and Mural (Satellite)
The building with the mural has not survived, but the 1920s part of the building has been spiffed up.
Oil and gas is not the only industry in this area. But a glass factory maybe here because cheap gas if available to fire their furnaces. Making glass needs a lot of heat.
This glass plant is one of the industries served by the TSU.
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