Remains of Roy’s: Population Zero

inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +), CC BY-SA 2.0
West of Needles and east of Ludlow lies a desert community without a population. Today, Amboy, California consists only of a single gas station. However, the remains of Roy’s Motel and Café stand like a mirage against the breathtakingly bleak backdrop of the Mojave Desert.
Photo: Alienburrito at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Established in 1939 by Roy Crowl, Roy’s started from humble beginnings as a gas station – a place to fuel up along this desolate strip of 66. Isolation proved to be good for business, and soon Crowl expanded Roy’s to include a motel, café, and automotive shop, serving travelers along this god-forsaken stretch of land.
Photo: John Margolies, Public domain
In 1959 a sign was erected that would solidify Roy’s Motel and Café in 66 lore. The neon was constructed in the “googie” or retro-futuristic style that reflected car culture and the Atomic age. Business boomed as post-war America traversed the Mother Road.
Photo: [junio Don’t think just shoot!], CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>
However, the need for faster and more efficient ways to travel replaced the emphasis that had historically been put on the journey. By the 1970s, Interstate 40 was constructed, bypassing Route 66 and Amboy. Amboy’s population and tourism quickly dwindled. Eventually Roy’s Motel and Café fell into disrepair – a common story of modernity bypassing history along 66. 
Photo: Eric Polk, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons
In 2005, Albert Okura, a businessman and 66 enthusiast, purchased the town (and the surrounding 490 acres). He paid $425,000 with the promise of reopening Roy’s and constructing an unofficial museum. True to his word, Okura renovated and reopened Roy’s in 2008 but it paled in comparison to its former glory.

Due to a lack of tourists, Roy’s was not able to achieve what it once had in the 1950’s and many buildings in Amboy remained closed. Thus the town became more popular as a movie set, rather than an actual destination, the only functional business in town being the gas station.  
Photo: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Amboy (California, USA) — 2012 — 4” / CC BY-SA 4.0
As of 2024 it was reported that Amboy has a population of zero. Okura has since passed away, and although his son continues to try and popularize the desert town, it remains a ghost of what it once was. Roy’s property is open for exploration and occasional visits from celebrities bring Amboy back in the news cycle. Harrison Ford has often been seen flying his plane into a nearby landing strip. 
Photo: SDASM Archives, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
Roy’s Motel and Café shares in an American tragedy common to many 66 fixtures. Once, the pinnacle of culture, the American zeitgeist, the post-war road trip phenomenon, Amboy has been reduced to a shadow, a meta Hollywood-set rendition of what was once real. We hope for a future for Amboy and Roy’s, but until then, thanks for the memories.   
Photo: Kognos, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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