Amboy & Bagdad, CA

Guardian Lions East of Amboy on 66 These Chinese guardian lions showed up here in 2013, one holds an embroidered ball and the other shelters a ... read more

Shoe Tree East of Amboy on 66 About 1/4 mile East of Amboy at Bridge 80 the fallen tree still collects shoes. I guess you'd call it public participation art ... read more

Amboy School Route 66 The old school is still standing just west of Roy's with some talking of creative reuse in the future ... read more

Roy's Cafe & Motel Route 66 One of the more famous stops along the original Route 66. The complex dates back to the 1920's ... read more

St. Raymond Church Route 66, Amboy, CA This church was dedicated in 1951 and closed in 1970. It was designed to hold about 100 people. ... read more

Amboy Crater Route 66 About a mile west of Amboy is a paved parking area and restrooms. Climbing to the top is not recommended from spring to fall ... read more

Bagdad: No longer even a ghost town, Bagdad is about eight miles west of Amboy.

Bagdad Cafe Route 66 at Bagdad Rd. This is the former home of the Bagdad Cafe, now marked by a lonely little tree. But there is plenty of room to park ... read more

Stay tuned, there's more to come!

More about Amboy
The town on the National Trails Highway dates back to 1858 with salt mining at Bristol Dry Lake. The name Amboy originated in 1883 as a station name for the Atlantic & pacific Railroad.

In his 1946 "A Guide Book to Highway 66" Jack Rittenhouse described the towns as having two cafes and a garage and nothing else. One of those garages was owned owned by Roy Crowl and his son-in-law Buster Burris and grew to become Roy's.

By the 1970s Buster owned the station and the whole town. Buster retired in 1995 leased the property until 2000 then sold it. His widow got it back a few years later and sold it to Albert Okura the owner of Juan Pollo Chicken Restaurant chain in 2005. Okura is slowly working on restoring the property, it's a big project.