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Route 66 Inn / True Rest Courts

2806 E. Amarillo Blvd., Amarillo, TX
Phone: 806-383-3318

East < GO > West

The Route 66 Inn opened in 1941 as the True Rest Courts with 30 rooms separated by garages. It was remodeled the mid 1950's with the Spanish Ranch style. Somewhere along the line the room count grew from 30 to 41 to 53. I'm guessing that some of the garages were probably converted to guest rooms in the expansion from 30 to 41 units. New owners changed the name to the Route 66 Inn in the early 1990s. The postcards shown below show how the sign changed over the years,

There had been a swimming pool on the east end of the guest room wing in the center of the complex, by the white peaked wall towards the left in this photo. It looks like that was built in the mid to late 1950s, but like many other vintage motel pools it's long gone. The original owners and operators were Mr.& Mrs. Frank E. Hobgood. Mr. Hobgood was president of the U.S. 66 Highway Association.

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Vintage Advertising Highlights

TRUE REST COURTS - AMARILLO, TEXAS
Population 80,000

Modern Accommodations and Convenient Location make this Amarillo's Outstanding Tourist Haven!
5 Minutes From Downtown Amarillo

NOTE: There is no mention of how many rooms the motel had and no phone number listed on this postcard. It's interesting that the population of the city was seen as being important enough to be listed as a feature for the motel. This postcard shows the original style of the motel as well as the double garages that separated the guest rooms. I have no date for this early postcard.

AAA TRUE REST MOTEL (United Courts logo)
U. S. Hwys. 60 and 66 East
Amarillo, Texas
A distinctive Motel of beautiful Spanish Ranch design.
41 Room Cooled by Refrigeration with Phones, Radios and Television. Heated Swimming Pool. Only five minutes from downtown.
MR. AND MRS. F. E. HOBGOOD, Owners-operators
2806 N. E. 8th Ave.
Phone DRake 4-****

NOTE: This postcard is dated 1959. Oddly this postcard mentions refrigeration cooling in the rooms but nothing about heating. That's all the more odd because TV, radios and a heated pool are mentioned. The cloverleaf logo mentioned was for the Superior Courts United, a publisher of a travel guides similar to AAA.

* TRUE REST MOTEL
*U. S. Highways 60 and 66 East
* AMARILLO, TEXAS

A distinctive Motel of beautiful Spanish Ranch Design.
53 Rooms, cooled by refrigeration, with Telephones, Radios and Television. Heated Swimming Pool. Only five minutes from downtown.
2806 Amarillo Blvd. East
Phone 383-****
Restaurant Next Door

NOTE: The big change on this postcard was the increase in room count from 41 to 53. This postcard appears to be from at least the mid-60s based the 1963 Dodge station wagon shown.

Photo(s): 2012