Because it was the first real train stop after entering California for trains headed to Los Angeles , Barstow was once a hot spot, and not because it was in the middle of the Mojave Desert. The Barstow train station with its Harvey House was the center of town and out of town entertainers would come to play for the people of Barstow. The famed Route 66 ran through the center of town.
Then the Union Pacific Railroad added a rail yard and the town moved south just a little, leaving the station a little more isolated. Then the freeways came passing just south of town. Route 66 is now just pieces with new numbers and names. In Barstow, Route 66 still runs down the middle of town and is now Main Street. Barstow is still a great place to stop while driving through the desert. Railroad lore is everywhere, including one of the busiest McDonalds restaurants in the Barstow Station, which is not to be confused with the Barstow Train Station. Barstow Station includes several popular food chains in a complex of old railroad cars and modern construction. The El Rancho Motel on Main Street, the old Route 66, is still providing lodging.
There are several points of interest in and around Barstow including: California Welcome Center, The Barstow Railroad Station, the Mother Road Rout 66 Museum, Western American Railroad Museum, the first Dell Taco, Desert Discovery Center, Route 66, El Rancho Motel , Mojave River Valley Museum, Rainbow Basin, Calico Ghost Town, Calico Early Man Site, the town of Daggette, and miles of natural wilderness desert.
The First Street Bridge was built about 1933 or 1934 and crossed over the large rail yards and provided access to the Barstow Railroad Station/Harvey House, named Casa del Desierto, House of the Desert. Francis Wilson designed the Station which was built in 1910 and opened in 1911. The Atchinson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe Railway Company operated the station which included a Harvey House operated by the Fred Harvey Company. The Harvey House could seat 120 people in two dining rooms. There were also living spaces for the famed Harvey Girls and the less famed Harvey Boys as well as train crews. With the decline of Barstow, the Harvey House closed and the station is little used except for two museums, The Mother Road Museum and the Railroad Museum. Tours are given of the station and the Harvey house on irregular schedules. The station suffered damage from an earthquake in 1991 and is being restored. The Harvey House is used on special occasions. An Amtrak Bus still picks up passengers. Casa del Desierto is California Historic Landmark # 892.
The Route 66 "Mother Road" Museum was dedicated on July 4, 2000. The Museum is dedicated to exhibits of the famed Route 66. The Route 66 Mother Road Museum & Harvey House 681 N. 1st Ave. West end of the building.
The Western American Railroad Museum is dedicated to Railroad history in the Pacific Southwest. The museum operated a model railroad in addition to real railroad exqipment outside. The museum has a display of hand cars and date nails. The Western American Railroad Museum is in the east end of the same Harvey House listed above.
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Beale Expedition mural.
