California Route 66 Museum
- Museum
- In Victorville, California
- On Route 66
The California Route 66 Museum sits on D Street, the old Route 66, in Old Town Victorville, CA. It fills the former Red Rooster Cafe, a roadside diner that appeared in the 1980 film The Jazz Singer, and its rooms of photographs and artifacts follow the highway across the Mojave. It also keeps many surviving pieces of Hulaville, the folk-art roadside yard of Miles Mahan, including its tall hula girl sign.
What is California Route 66 Museum?
The former cafe, about 5,000 square feet, holds three exhibit rooms and a gift shop. Exhibits change over time, but they trace the road from pioneer trails and the railroad to the motor age, with historic photographs, signs and everyday objects from Victorville and the rest of the Victor Valley. One room is given to the town's own history.
History of California Route 66 Museum
Old Town Victorville Heritage Preservation, a local volunteer group, opened the museum on November 11, 1995, the anniversary of the day Route 66 got its number in 1926. Volunteers, donors and members still keep it running.
Its best-loved collection comes from Hulaville, a desert yard of bottle trees, painted signs and folk art that retired carnival worker Miles Mahan began beside old Route 66 near Hesperia in the 1950s. Hulaville was torn down in the late 1990s, and the museum saved much of what survived, along with a scale model of the site. In Victorville, Route 66 followed Seventh Street and D Street, so the museum stands right on the old highway.
Visiting California Route 66 Museum: tips
From I-15 take the D Street exit and head about three-quarters of a mile east into Old Town; the museum faces the transit center where the town's railroad depot once stood. It opens only a few days a week, so check the schedule before you go, and allow about an hour. It is listed as wheelchair accessible. Lane's Crossing is about 3.4 miles away and the Apple Valley Inn about 4.6 miles.
Practical info
- Address
- 16825 D Street, Victorville, CA 92395
- Phone
- +1 760-951-0436
- Website
- califrt66museum.org
- Hours
- Fri, Sat 10–4 · Sun 11–3
- On site & nearby
Sources: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Wikidata · official site — may be outdated. Suggest a fix
Where to eat near California Route 66 Museum
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Stops near California Route 66 Museum
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10.9 mi from California Route 66 Museum
Questions about California Route 66 Museum
Where is the Route 66 museum in Victorville?
The California Route 66 Museum is on D Street in Old Town Victorville, about three-quarters of a mile east of the D Street exit from I-15. D Street was part of Route 66, so the museum stands right on the old road, in the former Red Rooster Cafe.
What is Hulaville?
Hulaville was a roadside folk-art yard that Miles Mahan, a retired carnival worker, built beside old Route 66 near Hesperia starting in the 1950s, full of bottle trees, signs and a tall hula girl cutout. It was torn down in the late 1990s, and many of its surviving pieces are now at this museum.
Is the Victorville Route 66 museum the same as the one in Barstow?
No. Victorville has the California Route 66 Museum in the old Red Rooster Cafe. Barstow, about 30 miles northeast, has a separate Route 66 Mother Road Museum inside its 1911 Harvey House depot. Both sit on or near the old road and are easy to visit on the same day.
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