Kan-O-Tex Service Station
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Kan-O-Tex Service Station (Galena)
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| former_names = Little's Service Station
| alternate_names = 4 Women on the Route
Cars on the Route{{cite news|last=Bryan |first=Andra |url=http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x508494282/Route-66-tourist-attraction-close-to-wrapping-up-overhaul |title=Route 66 tourist attraction close to wrapping up overhaul |publisher=Joplin Globe |date=2013-05-06 |accessdate=2013-08-20}}
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| image = 4 Women on the Route.jpg
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| building_type = Historic filling station
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| owner = Melba Rigg, Renée Charles, Judy Courtney, Betty Courtney (d. 2010) (as 4 Women on the Route){{Cite web|url=https://www.route66news.com/2013/03/19/4-women-on-the-route-undergoing-significant-changes/|title=4 Women on the Route undergoing significant changes|last=Warnick|first=Ron|date=2013-03-19|website=Route 66 News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-05}}
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| location = Old US Route 66
| address = 119 North Main Street
| location_town = Galena, Kansas
| location_country = United States
| coordinates = {{coord|37|4|49.4|N|94|38|20|W|type:landmark_region:US-KS|display=inline,title}}
| groundbreaking_date =
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| completion_date = 1934
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| renovation_date = 2007
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| seating_type = roadside café
| seating_capacity = 12
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| parking = on-site
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The Kan-O-Tex Service Station in Galena, Kansas, United States is a Kan-O-Tex filling station that originally served U.S. Route 66 motorists in 1934. Currently, it is a souvenir shop, snack bar, and tourist attraction.
History
US Route 66 was designated in 1926; by 1929 Kansas and Illinois were the first to completely pave their respective segments of this highway.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOOEXzXkZNMC&pg=PA8 |title=The Complete Route 66 Lost & Found |author=Russell A. Olsen |page=8 |date=2008-09-24 |accessdate=2012-05-21|isbn=9780760334928}}
Little's Service Station installed its fuel pumps on the former site of the Banks Hotel{{cite news|url=http://www.joplinglobe.com/x212141070/Galena-station-gassed-about-Route-66-award|title=Galena station gassed about Route 66 award|author=Roger McKinney|publisher=Joplin Globe|date=June 30, 2008}} (demolished 1933) at 119 North Main Street in Galena;{{cite news|url=http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x212072083/Unfinished-tourist-center-already-attracting-crowds?keyword=secondarystory|date=June 28, 2007|title=Unfinished tourist centre already attracting crowds|author=Roger McKinney|publisher=Joplin Globe}} an automobile repair shop was added later. Before Interstate 44 opened in the area in 1961, bypassing Kansas entirely, US Route 66 in Kansas was a vibrant part of the "Mother Road" which led from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California.{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/rt66/HistSig/KansasContext.htm|title=Historic Resources of Route 66 in Kansas - Cherokee County, Kansas (historic context)|author=Historic Preservation Services|publisher=National Park Service|year=2002}}
In 1979, US 66 in Galena was taken off its former Main Street alignment (which came in from Missouri as Front Street, turned south on Main Street, then followed the current K-66 route to Riverton) and routed directly onto 7th Street, bypassing the station. US 66 would become Kansas State Route 66 in 1985, but the station sat vacant, closed and largely abandoned until its 2007 restoration.
= Restoration =
The Kan-O-Tex Service Station bears the branding of the former Kanotex Refining Company (1909-1953), a now-defunct regional fuel brand named for Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The Kan-O-Tex logo was a Kansas sunflower behind a five-point star.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ioWq0cdIrcC&pg=PA146|title=Roadside Americana: Gas-Food-Lodging|last1=Witzel|first1=Michael|last2=Steil|first2=Tim|publisher=Crestline|year=2003|isbn=9780760317723|location=St. Paul, MN|page=146|accessdate=May 5, 2012}}
The station is home to a 1951 International boom truck on which Pixar's animated character Tow Mater was based; Joe Ranft, a Pixar animator, discovered it during a research trip for the movie Cars.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2018/07/02/route-66-restaurants/749800002/|title=Historic Route 66 restaurants serve big helping of nostalgia|website=USA TODAY|language=en|access-date=2019-05-02}} In April 2011, a Disney/Pixar crew returned{{cite web|url=http://www.koamtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14375635|title=Disney Pixar makes a special visit to Galena, Kansas|date=April 18, 2011|publisher=KOAM-TV 7 Pittsburg KS|accessdate=2013-03-19}} to interview the station's owners for a DVD release of Cars 2.{{cite news|url=http://www.morningsun.net/featured/x1700894759/PATRICKS-PEOPLE-Film-crew-comes-to-see-inspiration-for-a-Cars-character|title=Film crew comes to see inspiration for a 'Cars' character|author=Nikki Patrick|date=Apr 3, 2011|publisher=The Morning Sun, Pittsburg, Kansas|access-date=May 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623095212/http://www.morningsun.net/featured/x1700894759/PATRICKS-PEOPLE-Film-crew-comes-to-see-inspiration-for-a-Cars-character|archive-date=June 23, 2013|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+%27route%27+you+cannot+miss.-a0267811748|title=A 'route' you cannot miss.|author=Ciara Reid|date=August 1, 2011|publisher=Liberty Press}} As the "Mater" name is a Disney trademark, the original truck has been named "Tater."{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137343916/cars-fans-get-their-rusty-kicks-on-route-66|title='Cars' Fans Get Their Rusty Kicks On Route 66|last=Shelton|first=Missy|date=June 25, 2011|accessdate=May 5, 2012|publisher=National Public Radio}}
The station was restored in 2007 and renamed 4 Women on the Route.{{cite news|url=http://www.joplinglobe.com/obituaries/x1703942290/Betty-Courtney|title=Betty Courtney (Sept. 7, 1930 - June 27, 2010), obituary|date=June 29, 2010|publisher=The Joplin Globe}} Following an ownership change and the death of one of the founders of 4 Women on the Route, it was renamed again, becoming Cars on the Route, to emphasize its connection with Cars.{{Cite web|url=https://www.route66news.com/2013/03/19/4-women-on-the-route-undergoing-significant-changes/|title=4 Women on the Route undergoing significant changes|last=Warnick|first=Ron|date=2013-03-19|website=Route 66 News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-05}} Located seven blocks north of the current (7th Street) Kansas Route 66, the station retains the original aesthetic design of the fuel pumps and exterior façade but places a diner-style lunch counter in what once would have been the service bay of the station's repair garage. It operates seasonally, closing for the winter and reopening in the spring.{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/CarsOnTheRoute/posts/1746556495454415|title=Cars On The Route|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|access-date=2019-05-05}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.kansastravel.org/4womenontheroute.htm Cars on the Route], previously 4 Women on the Route, at kansastravel.org
- [https://www.facebook.com/CarsOnTheRoute/ Cars on the Route Facebook page]
Category:Gas stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas
Category:Gas stations on U.S. Route 66
Category:Buildings and structures in Cherokee County, Kansas
Category:Retail buildings in Kansas
Category:U.S. Route 66 in Kansas
Category:Transportation in Cherokee County, Kansas