Exhausted Route 66 Travelers Have Found Refuge at This Mojave Oasis Since the 1880s

The Town of Barstow Along Route 66

Barstow’s not pretending to be anything fancy. This Mojave Desert stop was built on trains, truckers, and America’s most famous highway, and it’s still doing what it does best: giving travelers a glimpse of pure Route 66 grit without the tourist-trap sugar coating.

How the Harvey House Became a Railway Landmark

The Casa del Desierto, now known as the Harvey House Railroad Depot, stretches 250 feet along its limestone base. Santa Fe Railway spent $250,000 to build this Spanish-style masterpiece in 1911, which would be worth about $7 million today. Inside the building, ‘Harvey Girls’ served meals to train passengers in dining rooms lit by Tiffany lamps.

After surviving fires in 1971 and 1986, the building now houses the Route 66 Mother Road Museum, showing off more than 3,000 artifacts. Movie stars like Clark Gable and Carol Lombard once stayed in the upstairs hotel rooms while traveling between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Why Del Taco Started at This Desert Stop

Ed Hackbarth opened the first Del Taco at 401 First Street in 1964, selling both Mexican food and burgers to passing travelers. His small stand had just five items: tacos and tostadas for 19 cents each, fries for 20 cents, cheeseburgers for 24 cents, and six lime lollipops for 12 cents.

Local miners and Route 66 travelers helped the business grow, spending about $169 each day in that first year. Though the original building came down in 1981, Del Taco still runs three restaurants in Barstow, serving over 3 million customers yearly.

What Makes the Mojave River Special

The Mojave River runs underground beneath Barstow for most of its 110-mile length, carrying 30,000 acre-feet of water each year. Native Serrano and Vanyume peoples, Spanish explorers in 1776, and Mormon settlers in 1847 all used this hidden water source to cross the desert.

This underground river helped make Barstow an important stop long before Route 66 existed. Today, even though you rarely see water at the surface, wells tap into this underground stream to supply the city with 7,900 acre-feet of water yearly, making life possible in a place that gets just 4.3 inches of rain.

When Marines Made Barstow Their Base

The Marine Corps chose Barstow for their Logistics Base in 1942 because trains and highways met here perfectly. During World War II, up to 2,000 military vehicles drove through town each day in 1943, carrying supplies to ships headed for the Pacific.

The base still covers 5,400 acres of desert and employs more than 2,100 people, adding $500 million to the local economy every year. Military trucks still roll through Barstow regularly, reminding visitors of the city’s role in supporting American forces.

Inside the Desert Discovery Center’s Collection

A massive iron meteorite weighing 6,070 pounds sits inside the Desert Discovery Center, found in 1975 in the nearby Old Woman Mountains. This space rock, about 4.5 billion years old, holds the record as California’s largest meteorite and the second-biggest ever found in America.

The center spans 7,000 square feet, teaching visitors about local rocks, wildlife, and Native American culture from 2,500 years ago. Protected desert tortoises, which can live up to 80 years in the wild, roam freely on the center’s 12-acre grounds.

Looking Back at Rainbow Basin’s Ancient Past

Rainbow Basin’s colorful cliffs stand eight miles north of Barstow, showing off 25 million years of rock layers. These twisted walls of limestone, mud rock, and sandstone rise 300 feet high and hold some of the Mojave Desert’s richest fossil beds.

Scientists have found at least 17 fossils that are unique to this area, including bones from ancient camels, three-toed horses, and saber-toothed cats that lived 15 million years ago. Visitors can drive a 7.5-mile loop to see these remarkable formations up close.

Main Street’s Story-Telling Murals

Sixteen large murals up to 40 feet tall tell Barstow’s story on downtown buildings. Local artists painted these scenes using special acrylic paints that can handle harsh desert weather, covering 12,000 square feet with images of miners, railroads, and classic cars.

The paintings line Main Street for 1.2 miles, showing how Barstow grew from a small desert town into a busy Route 66 destination. Each mural captures a different piece of local history, from the early mining days to the height of train travel.

Where NASA Talks to Space Probes

NASA built the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex 35 miles north of Barstow, spreading across 52 square miles of desert. Since 1958, giant radio dishes, including one 230 feet wide nicknamed ‘Mars,’ have helped NASA talk to spacecraft exploring the solar system.

These massive antennas can track 18 space missions at once, staying in touch with probes billions of miles from Earth. The site processes more than 300 terabytes of space data every day, making Barstow an important link in space exploration.

A Closer Look at BNSF’s Smart Rail Yard

BNSF’s railway yard covers 830 acres and handles over 1,800 train cars daily using a clever hill system. Train cars roll down a 42-foot slope, letting gravity sort them onto 48 different tracks.

From the old Harvey House, you can watch computers guide each car down the hill at just the right speed. This system moves everything from grain cars weighing 100 tons to special carriers full of new automobiles.

How Train Cars Became a Tourist Stop

Barstow Station opened in 1975 after $1.5 million worth of work turned old train cars into unique restaurants. Five real Santa Fe railroad cars make up part of this 141,819-square-foot Route 66 landmark, which serves about 60 million travelers each year.

The building combines industrial design with railroad history, making it a favorite photo spot along Route 66. Inside, 220 feet of old passenger cars provide air-conditioned comfort to tired travelers.

Pioneer Park’s Collection of Local History

Pioneer Park displays Barstow’s past across 2.5 acres, featuring a restored 1911 Southern Pacific Steam Locomotive that weighs 175 tons. The park shows off mining tools, train artifacts, and an authentic wagon that 20 mules once pulled to haul 24 tons of borax.

Visitors can see over 500 old photos and documents from 1886 onward, plus real equipment from the Calico mines nearby. These pieces sit in the open desert air, showing how people lived and worked in early Barstow.

Where Past Meets Present on Route 66

Modern Barstow mixes 1950s neon signs with new solar farms that generate hundreds of megawatts of power. Every day, thousands of vehicles pass through the city’s main crossroads, driving past historic buildings protected by the National Register.

Visitors see NASA’s modern equipment working near old-style motels, while military vehicles share the road with tourists taking pictures from their rental cars. Barstow keeps changing while holding onto its Route 66 spirit, where modern buildings stand next to structures from 1926.