Amboy: A lone sign welcomes travelers to the ghost town of Amboy, Calif., as Historic Route 66 passes through the Mojave Desert. Once a thriving stop for travelers in the mid 1900s. Today Amboy is a ghost town but with the help of the late Albert Okura and his son Kyle Okura working to revive Roy’s Motel and Cafe, there is hope for the ghost town. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Roy’s: This image shows Roy’s Motel and Cafe while visiting in 2021. Shown is the gas station, motel lobby building and iconic Roy’s sign. A milestone was reached in 2019 when renovations to the sign were completed and the sign lights the desert sky again. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Church: Albert Okura purchased the town of Amboy in 2005, which includes more than 900 acres, a closed post office building, closed church building and the Roy’s Motel and Cafe complex. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
As 2024 begins to wind down, we have been thinking about travel plans for 2025. We will be traveling in California twice in the coming year and reviewing past trips, locations of interest, and possible stops for our future trips. One unique stop that we have made at least twice in recent years is Amboy, Calif., which we will see again this spring.
The town of Amboy is situated in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Amboy was established in 1858 as a stop for the railroad, which was new to that region of the country at that time. If the railroad had taken a different path the town of Amboy would have never been founded.
In the 1920s Amboy again was given a lifeline when the newly established Route 66 passed through the desert town on it was to Los Angeles. Route 66 became a major thoroughfare from the late 1920s until the 1970s when the Interstate Highway System bypassed many small towns.
Despite its barren, lonesome location in the desert Amboy became a prominent stopping point for years on Route 66. Automobile travel was much different in the early days and travelers were in need of a place to stop and refresh and refill the gas tank before continuing their journey.
The most popular stop in Amboy was Roy’s Motel and Cafe which grew from the original business of Roy’s Garage and gas station. Roy Crawl recognized the need for a travel stop and built the business over the years to include the gas station, motel, cafe and a few cottages for travelers as they passed through the area.
In the 1950s a 50-foot-tall modern neon sign was installed. That sign shined bright in the desert sky luring travelers to stop at Roy’s in Amboy. The stop became one of the most well know travel stops on Route 66 and the iconic sign drew travelers in for services while in the area.
However, in 1973 Interstate 40 was completed and opened a few miles north of Amboy and business as well as the entire town of Amboy began to decline and eventually close down. Residents began to move out and eventually Roy’s closed as well. Amboy was becoming a ghost town.
Amboy sat vacant for years and was even listed on ebay for sale in 2003 but no one was interested. In 2005, businessman Albert Okura recognized the revitalization of the old Route 66 and purchased the entire town for $425,000.
The purchase included the town of just over 900 acres, a closed post office building and a church building with no members or services. The Roy’s Cafe and Motel property were the largest structures but had also fallen into disrepair. Even the 50-foot-tall sign stood dark and needed restoration and new neon tubes before it would shine again. Okura fell in love with the “town” and promised to reopen Roy’s and bring life back to Amboy.
Over the next five years renovation efforts led to the reopening of Roy’s as a gas station, convenience store and souvenir shop in 2008. The lobby building of the old motel was also restored although the motel has not reopened. The exteriors of the post office and church across the highway were also made more attractive although still not open. In 2019, the renovations to the iconic sign were completed and it again lights the desert skies.
Unfortunately, Albert Okura died after a brief illness in January, 2023. The ownership of Amboy and other businesses owned by Okura was transferred to his son Kyle Okura.
Kyle Okura has the same love and passion for the tiny town of Amboy as his father and is continuing to proceed with the renovation work as planned. It has been a long, hard road to bring Amboy to its current state and will continue to be a slow path forward in the future. However, with the 100th anniversary of Route 66 taking place in 2026, Kyle Okura is hoping to have other improvements completed by that time.
We have traveled through Amboy a couple of times and will be returning again this spring when we are in Southern California. It will be another fun stop to see what the ghost town of Amboy looks like today.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Motel: The motel portion of the Roy’s Motel and Cafe property continues to be fenced and closed to the public. The motel lobby has been restored and is used for occasional events. There is hope that the motel will be opened in the future. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Amboy Crater: Amboy Crater National Natural Landmark is another attraction near the town of Amboy, Calif. Visitors can hike about 1.5 miles and view the volcanic crater and surrounding lava field. Visitors should be prepared and bring ample water as the area can be very hot and dry. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Iconic Sign: Now restored, the iconic Roy’s Motel and Cafe sign again shines at night. The sign attracted travelers for years as they drove through the desert. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com