Jim Hinckley, award winning author of Route 66 Backroads, Backroads of Arizona, The Big Book of Car Culture, Ghost Towns of the Southwest, Greetings from Route 66, and Ghost Towns of Route 66 takes to the road

Jim Hinkley

For more than twenty years Jim Hinckley, award winning author and photographer has served as America’s travel guide to the wonders only found on the back roads and lost highways through his books, feature articles, a daily blog, and in interviews with Jay Leno, on AM Arizona, and on other nationally televised television and radio programs. Now Jim turns his talents toward the most ambitious project to date – a Route 66 encyclopedia and atlas that will chronicle the 85 year history of America’s most famous highway and the people who wrote that history.

To ensure this is the definitive work about America’s most famous highway, Jim is again taking to the road to capture images of its faded glory. Along the way he will extol its virtues through speaking engagements and at book signings.

Ghost Towns of Route 66

With Ghost Towns of Route 66 the reader rides along on an odyssey of discovery to places where the neon hasn’t cast a glow in more than a half century and only the wind stirs the dust on Route 66. Filled with the colorful prose expected of Jim, and stunning photography by Kerrick James and Jim Hinckley, Ghost Towns of Route 66 the book is a delight for armchair travelers and adventurers alike.

In Backroads of Route 66 iconic Route 66 was portrayed as a portal to a wide array of adventures, historic sites, and scenic wonders only found with short detours from the world’s most famous highway. Photographs by Kerrick James, Shellee Graham, Jim Ross, and Rick and Nora Bowers, as well as historic photos from the author’s collection, enliven the concise, informative text with colorful vibrancy.

A previous book in the back roads series, Backroads of Arizona, introduced readers to singularly unique and often missed Arizona attractions such as Crown King, the Senator Highway, and Hualapai Mountain Park.

The Big Book of Car Culture is an award winning, fun filled, illustrated encyclopedic work on all things automotive from the evolution of crash test dummies and tow trucks to the development of the Ford Mustang and the history of road striping that was the subject of a recent interview with Jay Leno.

Greetings from Route 66, a compilation for which Jim wrote the chapter introductions, is a time capsule and post card chronicling almost 85 years of memories on America’s most famous highway.

In Ghost Towns of the Southwest, Jim took readers along for a ride to some of the most fascinating and colorful ghost towns in the southwest from Native American metropolises and Spanish colonial outposts to legendary Tombstone and historic Hillsboro.

For more information see:

ghost_towns_1.pdf

ghost_towns_2.pdf

Route 66 Sightings

Route 66 Sightings

Ghost Town Press announces the release of Route 66 Sightings, a collection of images from the portfolios of roadside
photographers Jerry McClanahan, Jim Ross, and Shellee Graham. This beautiful coffee table book defines the Route 66
experience, telling the story of the road through six galleries of stunning photographs, each with its own tale to tell.
Spanning thirty years, Sightings is a culmination of their individual and collective efforts as writers, photographers, and
advocates of the legendary highway.

McClanahan and Ross are both accomplished highway historians and are widely published as photographers and writers.
Graham, whose Route 66 photo exhibition toured the US for over a decade, has been photographing the Mother Road
since 1990. All three are multiple award winners.

Route 66 Sightings is available through the publisher, at on-line bookstores, and at gift shops along Route 66.

Missouri’s Haunted Route 66 – Ghosts Along the Mother Road

The History Press is pleased to introduce a new book by Janice Tremeear.

Alongside the nostalgic appeal of Route 66 lurk ghostly roadside hitchhikers, the Goatman of Rolla, amusement park spirits, Civil War dead and the shadows thrown by the mighty Thunderbird. Spanning three hundred dangerously curving miles, the stretch of the Mother Road in Missouri earned the title of “Bloody 66,” and some of its stopping places are marked by equally grim history. The Lemp Mansion saw family members commit suicide one by one. Springfield’s Pythian Castle was an orphanage before becoming a military hospital and housing World War II prisoners of war. Follow Janice Tremeear as she takes a detour down Zombie Road, peers into the matter of the Joplin Spook Light and even stays overnight in Missouri’s most haunted locations to discover what makes the Show Me State such a lively place for the dead.

Born in St. Louis, Janice Tremeear has lived most of her life in Missouri. She is a second-generation dowser. In tune with the paranormal from an early age, she now directs her interest and research into investigating the unknown with her team Route 66 Paranormal Alliance. She has three grown children and four grandchildren. She currently lives in Springfield, Missouri.

Meet the Author!

September 25th at 7pm at Pythian Castle in Springfield, MO
October 16th from 2-5 at Prosperity School Bed & Breakfast in Joplin, MO
October 28th at 7pm at The Library Station (2535 North Kansas Expressway, Springfield, MO)

Author Seeks Information for Route 66 Encyclopedia & Atlas

by Jim Hinkley

My goal with this project is to chronicle the first 85 years of Route 66 history, to preserve it for future generations, and to further fuel the resurgent interest in the highway.

To ensure this work is historically correct, provides a comprehensive overview of Route 66, and is as current as possible, I am petitioning historic societies, museums, businesses, and Route 66 organizations for assistance in the form of suggestions for material to be included, contact information, historic information, and information pertaining to the acquisition of material to be used as illustrations.

General topics for inclusion:

1)      Community profile – a profile of each community on all alignments of Route 66.

2)      Biographies – concise biographical sketches of individuals that have played key roles in the roads history. Examples; Bob Waldmire, Cyrus Avery, Michael Wallis, etc.

3)      Notable events that are directly associated with Route 66 or its predecessor auto trails such as the National Old Trails Highway or Ozark Trail. Examples; the Desert Classic automobile races 1908 – 1914, the Bunion Derby, etc.

4)      Predecessor highway history – the National Old Trails Highway, Ozark Trail, etc.

5)      Current businesses and their history – this category would be historic or new businesses such as Pops in Arcadia and Afton Station in Afton.

6)      Historic businesses now closed – examples for this category would include the Painted Desert Trading Post and Coral Court Motel.

7)      Route 66 entertainment – television shows and movies filmed on Route 66 or locations that were used in these films.

8)      Personal stories – short stories of personal experiences on Route 66 that will serve to illustrate its evolution.

Thank you for the assistance.

Contact information:

Jim Hinkley

1308 Stockton Hill Rd.

Suite A, PMB 228

Kingman, AZ 86401-5190

928-753-5910

jimhinckley@yahoo.com

Voyageur Press/Quayside Publishing – publisher

Text and photography by Jim Hinckley, author of Ghost Towns of the Southwest, Backroads of Arizona, Route 66 Backroads, The Big Book of Car Culture, Ghost Towns of Route 66 (fall 2010), and contributor for the compilation Greetings from Route 66 (fall 2010).

New Book About Route 66 in St. Louis Now Available on Friends of the Mother Road Web Site

by Kip Welborn

Things to Look for On Route 66 in St. Louis Our organization is offering for sale a book I penned called “Things to Look for On Route 66 in St. Louis.” It is a book that I hope will guide you down the many alignments that Route 66 takes through the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County-from the Illinois suburbs on the “Eastside” to the Franklin County Line (and will hopefully compliment the new signs that you will find cruising Route 66 in St. Louis courtesy of the Route 66 Association of Missouri). It also points out various “places to look out for” while you are cruising the different alignments, as well as other tidbits about Route 66 in St. Louis. The Book is divided up into the “Salisbury” alignment (which crossed the McKinley Bridge), the “Chouteau” alignment (which crossed the Municipal/MacArthur Bridge); the “Official/Bypass Route” (which crossed the Chain of Rocks Bridge and went around St. Louis); the “City” Route (which crossed the Chain of Rocks and Municipal/MacArthur Bridges and went through the City of St. Louis.); and the later Routes which crossed the Veterans and Poplar St. Bridges. While not every twist and turn in these alignments is covered, you will hopefully see not only most of Route 66 in St. Louis but also a lot of what this great City has to offer. The book sells for $10.00. Mailing costs are an additional $2.25. A couple of bucks will go towards putting the book together, and the rest will go to Friends of the Mother Road, Inc. for preservation efforts (including its efforts to preserve the Luna Motel Sign in Mitchell, IL). It is in black and white and bound so that it is easy to flip the pages while you are cruising. Here’s a chance to figure out Route 66 in St. Louis and how to help icons on our Beloved Mother Road all at once. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Friends of the Mother Road, Inc., thanks you for your patronage and your contribution to its preservation work….Kip Welborn, Friends of the Mother Road, Inc. Visit web site to buy

Whitehall Mercantile Launches New Web Site

Whitehall Mercantile, built in 1900 on the future Route 66 in Halltown, Missouri, has a new web site. Go to www.whitehallmercantile.com for a history of the property, information and hours, and an online guestbook.

One of the offerings in the store is a booklet Personalities of Route 66, a compilation of interviews with people who lived along Route 66 in it’s heyday. Whitehall Mercantile also offers Route 66 souvenirs and antiques and collectibles.