Roy's Motel and Café

Roy's Motel and Café became a defining stop in Amboy after a 1931 realignment of Route 66 sent traffic through the tiny Mojave Desert town. Opened by Roy Crowl in 1938 as a gas and service station, it expanded in the 1940s into a full roadside complex with a café, cabins, and repair services, helping drive Amboy's growth under Herman "Buster" Burris. Its iconic 1959 neon sign and motel office made it a celebrated California Route 66 landmark. Although Interstate 40 bypassed the town in 1972 and business collapsed, the property survived, reopened in refurbished form in 2008, and remains central to Amboy's identity and Route 66 preservation.

California · United States