Roy's Motel and Café

Roy's Motel and Café is a motel, café, gas station and auto repair shop, defunct for many years but now being largely restored, on the National Trails Highway of U.S. Route 66 in the Mojave Desert town of Amboy in San Bernardino County, California. The historic site is an example of roadside Mid-Century Modern Googie architecture.The entire town of Amboy – including the mostly defunct Roy's complex – is owned by and under the stewardship of a private preservationist.HistoryAs a Route 66 stopIn 1938, founder Roy Crowl opened Roy's as a gas and service station along U.S. Highway 66, in Amboy. At the time, Route 66 – the "Main Street of America" – was the primary east-west highway artery crossing the nation from Chicago through the Southwest to Los Angeles. The construction of Roy's was one consequence of a Route 66 realignment through Mountain Springs Summit, bypassing Goffs to directly connect Needles and Essex, and continuing west to Amboy.