route 66 Photography

Chandler Oklahoma Route 66 Photography

County seat of Lincoln County, Chandler is situated at the intersection of U.S. Highway 66 (Route 66) and Oklahoma Highway 18. The city’s opening was set for September 22, 1891, the same date as the land run that opened the Sac and Fox and Iowa lands to form County A (Lincoln County). However, soldiers blocked the prospective settlers from entering the Chandler townsite, because the survey was not finished. Consequently, Chandler was opened for settlement at noon on September 28, 1891, when gunshots signaled the land opening. Thousands of settlers dashed up the steep hill into the 320-acre townsite for 2,208 free lots. Chandler was purposely located at the geographic center of the county and near a water supply called Indian Spring, now a city park. The post office was established September 21, 1891, and the city named for Assistant Secretary of the Interior George Chandler.

The  Phillips  66  Station  1423  is  a  cottage  style  gas  station  opened  in  1930  and  is  typical  of  the  design that  the  Phillips  Petroleum  Company  used  during  this  time  period.  It  mimics  the  Tudor  Revival  style  architecture  popular  in  the  1920s  with  its  masonry,  steeply  pitched  gabled  roof,  high  chimneys,  and  tall windows.

The  Chandler  Armory,  listed  in  the  National  Register  of  Historic  Places,  was  constructed  by  the  Works  Progress  Administration,  and  the  project  provided  work  for  unemployed  laborers  and  stimulated  the  local  economy.    The  building  is  an  excellent  example  of  WPA  architecture  and  is  built  of  native  sandstone.    The  armory  was  the  home  of  the  Oklahoma  National  Guard,  45th  Infantry  Division’s  Battery  F,  Second  Battalion  of  the  160th  Field  Artillery,  which  played  an  important  role  in  North  Africa,  Sicily,  and  Italy  during  World  War  II.    Today,  the  armory  houses  the  Chandler  Route  66  Interpretive  Center.    Travelers  of  all  ages  will  delight  in  the  nostalgic  trip  down  “The  Mother  Road”  experienced  through  videos  portraying  Oklahoma’s  part  in  the  formation  of  the  sights  and  sounds  that  are  Route  66.    Visitors  will  experience  an  entertaining  “drive”  from  the  1920’s  through  current day  Oklahoma  on  what  author  John  Steinbeck  called,  in  his  classic  novel,  The  Grapes  of  Wrath,  our  “Mother  Road,”  Route  66.  

Chandler Oklahoma Route 66 Photo Gallery


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Oklahoma Route 66  Photo Galleries

My name is Greg Disch and I am a freelance photographer with a passion for taking photos of Route 66. I have been photographing Route 66 for the past several years and have accumulated one of the largest collections of contemporary Route 66 photography.  My images are all available online for immediate sale and download or may be ordered as photographic prints. If you need photos from Route 66, or just want to take a virtual tour of the “Mother Road” you can travel from town to town using the interactive map or search by subject.

Interactive Google Map

Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.