Neon, tailfins and motor courts: the architecture of Route 66
How roadside buildings were designed to be read from a moving car.
By CampingSpirit Editors · July 29, 2026 · 3 min read
Mid-century roadside buildings had about three seconds to catch a driver's eye at 50 mph. That limit shaped a whole style along Route 66 and every other American highway: huge signs, strong silhouettes, bright colors and buildings that looked like what they sold. Much of it has gone, but enough survives to read the old road like an open-air museum.
Programmatic buildings
Architects call a building shaped like its product or theme “programmatic”: a café shaped like a coffee pot, a stand shaped like a giant orange, a motel made of concrete teepees. They were jokes that worked as advertising. The Wigwam Motels in Holbrook, Arizona, and near San Bernardino, California, still rent their teepee rooms, with vintage cars parked outside, and are now protected landmarks.
Googie
The swooping roofs, starbursts, boomerang shapes and angled signs of the 1950s are known as Googie, after a Los Angeles coffee shop of that name. The style borrowed from car design and the space race and was made for neon at night. Roy's Motel and Café in Amboy, California, in the Mojave Desert, is a famous example: its sign has become better known than the café.
Art Deco filling stations
Earlier, in the 1930s, oil companies and local builders gave gas stations the streamlined look of Art Deco. The U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas, with its two tiled towers, is the best-known survivor and now serves as a visitor center. Smaller stations with curved corners and glass-block windows still stand in many Route 66 towns, often restored by volunteers.
Motor courts
Before chain motels, the motor court let travellers park right next to their door, in a row or U-shape of small cottages around the office. Some, like the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico, even gave every room its own garage. Many have kept their original neon signs, and staying in one directly supports the owners who keep them going.
How to see it at its best
Drive the old alignments rather than the interstate, and plan one night a week in a historic motel. Arrive before sunset and walk the main street when the neon comes on; the signs were designed for exactly that moment. Many restored buildings are run by small museums or volunteers with limited hours, so check opening times and leave a donation. In the planner, the Route 66 guides list these stops in driving order.
