Route 66 is a very old historic route that travels through my hometown. This is one of the original floor markings of the route itself. I like the lines and texture in this image. The pavement in this area is very old and has been neglected, but the bold lines of the symbol still draw the viewer’s attention to the marking. These photographs are intended to capture the history of my town.
This is one of several posts put up over town that mark the road as Route 66. The posts were just recently put up in the past few months, giving the route an up-to-date look. I took this photo with a larger depth of field in order to capture a long stretch of the road in the background. The marker nicely captures the sense of history and nostalgia for the famed Route 66.
This is one my favorite murals in Old Town. It is crazy to think that Barstow has been around since 1947. All of the history behind the town is amazing. This building sits right at the edge of Old Town as this mural covers the majority of the side of the building. The balance of the mural ties it all together. The contrast between the beauty of the mural and the broken windows above show the contrast between the proud history of the town and how the city still struggles to this day.
This mural in Old Town nicely captures the history of the area. The 3D effect helps the mural grab attention in this parking lot. Likewise, the size of the mural allows it to be seen more from the street, which helps draw more attention to it. The mural does a great job at capturing the history and frontier spirit that helped create the town.
This photograph was taken in the courtyard of one of the oldest motels in Barstow. The interior of the motel has been remodeled and updated, but the exterior has an old-style look. Numerous antique cars sit in the parking lot to help create an old highway vibe.
This image was captured to show a different side of the area surrounding Barstow. There are a many different animals and species that still roam the land in the Mojave Desert. The grid of the mural helps show the different animals and makes it easy to view.
There are still many small mom-and-pop shops located around Barstow. These shops have managed to survive the influx of large corporate stores like Walmart that have come into town. To this day, these stores still provide the best hospitality that a person could ask for. These stores also harken back to an earlier era in Barstow, before corporate chains dominated smaller towns.
In recent years, parts of Old Town Barstow have become more of a Ghost Town than anything else, with buildings boarded up and empty. This photo was in no way planned, but it seems to capture the quiet, empty feeling of parts of Old Town. There is a lot of negative space in the photograph as there are very few objects besides the buildings that fill the image.
I decided to keep the final two photographs in color to present parts of modern Barstow. This image shows a section of Main Street, which is where most of the businesses are located. There is a lot of poverty in this area. This photography captures the lines that lead to the horizon at the end of the road. This image is intended to connect the old and new — the signs for Route 66 are everywhere you look in town, both in the iconic Old Town and on modern Main Street.
Barstow Station is the place you always hear about on the radio when traveling through Barstow. It is a large rest-stop area that is a huge draw for travelers passing through town. There are restaurants and shops and many people want to stop on the famous Route 66. When it comes to iconic places and history of Route 66 in Barstow, this is the place to be.
