If you follow the Mother Road through Davenport, you’ll miss half the town. Route 66 follows the town’s main street, Broadway Street, for just a few blocks, then makes a sweeping turn to the west. From the big curve, you’ll be able to check out Davenport’s concrete welcome sign…
… and a nice old gas station, that’s been restored with pumps, signs, and vintage cars.
Davenport’s downtown was quiet during my visit. There is a nice Route 66 mural on the side of one of the businesses, but the road itself is Davenport’s main bragging point.
The extremely w-i-d-e Broadway Street was paved in 1925 (a year before Route 66 came through!) using bricks from the Davenport Brick and Tile Corporation, which operated from 1911 to 1929. I guess I really didn’t need to tell you that, you could have just read the sign.
As you can tell by the pictures, I was running out of daylight by the time I left Davenport. I made it to Chandler, Oklahoma, and stayed at a less-than-wonderful motel near I-44.
Note: This trip was first published in 2008.
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