by Rhys Martin

“Afton Station is the dream of Laurel Kane who moved to Afton a few years ago specifically to restore this classic gas station and open a visitor center on her beloved road.”

So it was written by Guy Randall on June 5th, 2003. Guy was one of the participants of the Hampton Inn Save-A-Landmark Campaign that year that saw a caravan drive Route 66 west-to-east, donating funds to bolster beloved Route 66 attractions and gifting signage to each location. These Roadside Attraction signs became landmarks unto themselves with travelers keeping an eagle-eye out for them as they explored the Mother Road.

In 2023, the Oklahoma Route 66 Association launched an initiative to replace the many missing-and-damaged signs along our 400+ miles of Route 66 and are helping some locations add signage to their unique attractions. Now, we are so proud to announce we’ve finally succeeded in saving a set of these original signs after years of attempts. But before we get to that, a little history.

Laurel Kane was a vintage postcard collector from Connecticut that fell in love with Route 66. In 1997, she and her family took a road trip down the famous highway in a vintage Packard automobile…a trip that changed all of their lives forever. Laurel and her husband David decided to “retire” to Oklahoma…but not really retirement as we generally see it.

1957 Packard from Afton Station, part of David Kane’s collection.

They purchased an old service station in the town of Afton and fixed it up into a museum to house David’s automobile collection and Laurel’s Route 66 ephemera. It opened as a general welcome center in 2001 and quickly became a must-stop spot on the road. The Hampton Inn signs, coming just two years after the station re-opened, were surely a confirmation that they had made the right decision. But people didn’t just stop for the museum itself, but to see Laurel herself and her loyal crew of volunteers. Her wit and knack for storytelling made her a beloved part of the roadie community. She helped organize the 2004 International Route 66 Festival in Tulsa and was very involved in the Association. Laurel was inducted into the Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame in 2016.

KC Keefer profiled Laurel in his terrific video series, Genuine Route 66 Life, which you can see below.

Laurel also kept a blog where she wrote about the many travelers that stopped at the station; it’s still up and provides a wonderful glimpse into her day-to-day experience. On April 7th, 2015 there’s an entry that captures the first time she and I were able to sit and visit. It had a massive impact on my life for a few reasons. One: it served as a real underline to the notion that I needed to make more time to meet and visit with the people that lived and worked along Route 66. Two: Laurel casually mentioned that she was ordained. After a few more visits in the following weeks, I asked Laurel to officiate my wedding. That’s how Laurel got to the stage at Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom on October 10th, 2015! She became a treasured friend in a remarkably short time.

In January of 2016, Laurel passed away after a short illness. The roadie community was devastated by the sudden loss, but her crew (including her now ex-husband David) vowed to keep the station running in her memory. Tragically, David died in an accident in August of 2018. The dream of Afton Station faded away with him.

Although I attended the auction the following June with some Association monies at my disposal for preservation purposes, it was in vain. Collectors from all over the country had descended on little Afton to snatch up chunks of the collection - some of which are still trying to re-sell items in online communities to this day. Crestfallen, I walked away empty handed.

But if you’ve followed our Association for a while, you know that a few months after that auction we were given the opportunity to purchase Bob Waldmire’s U-Haul truck, which had been on display at Afton Station. Today it sits in Chelsea, Oklahoma and we are still putting plans together to restore it for the Centennial. The other thing we’ve been trying to save since the scattering is that old set of faded Roadside Attraction signs, still attached to the station. They stayed up there after the auction and they taunted me every time I drove by after the building became a marijuana grow facility. At some point, the blue Roadside Attraction sign disappeared. The smaller red interpretive sign remained in place, but it would just be a matter of time before it, too, went AWOL. Attempts to reach the realtor and owner were unsuccessful.

At the beginning of the year, there was a breakthrough.

Board member Richard Stephens was in Miami, Oklahoma late last year when a person he didn’t know came up to him with a cardboard box. “You’re with the Oklahoma Route 66 Association, aren’t you?” the person asked. Richard said that he was, and the stranger gave him the box. “This is from Afton,” the person said, and then they disappeared into the crowd. Richard was shocked to find that he had been given the blue Roadside Attraction sign from Afton Station. At the Association’s January meeting, Richard passed the sign along for safe keeping.

But what about the other half?

I decided to try again. I got in touch with the realtor, who gave me the contact information for Dee Robison, the current owner. I left a message without much hope. But miracles DO happen - I received a return message, stating that he was open to the idea of donating the remaining sign. Something in his name triggered a memory, too, and I did a little searching. HIs late sister, Kim, was my aunt! I was able to relate this example of small-world happenstance when we finalized the donation and I expressed my tremendous gratitude.

Beth Hilburn, another one of our Board members, removed the remaining sign from Afton Station last week and I picked it up on Saturday. It’s a small thing. But it’s SOMEthing. It allows us to tell her story to everyone that sees those signs and asks about them.

That long story is how the Oklahoma Route 66 Association now has Afton Station’s original Hampton Inn Save-A-Landmark signs on display at our new office in Tulsa. People will be able to come by and see it at our Grand Opening on March 23rd. And I bet quite a few of them will be able to tell a story or two about their time spent at Afton Station, talking to Laurel and making the memories of a lifetime.

Honoring a Dream

Oklahoma Route 66 Association Office Open House a Success

Historic Stretch of Route 66 Endangered