Shamrock, Texas - Main Street City

TEXAS LEGENDS

Shamrock - Texas Main Street City

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Shamrock, Texas 1950s Postcard

Following the south service road off I-40, Route 66 becomes Business 40, entering Shamrock, Texas, which epitomizes "Main Street USA" on the historical Mother Road.

Shamrock was named by an Irish immigrant sheep rancher by the name of George Nickel when in 1890, the Irishman applied to open a post office at his dugout home six miles north of the present town site. Suggesting the name for good luck and courage, the post office never opened because Nickel’s home burned down, but the name stuck. Having gained approval for the name, another post office was operated nearby for a short time, but Shamrock did not get its official beginning until the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway arrived in the summer of 1902.

By August, town lots were being sold at the town site that went by the name of Wheeler. However, the railroad named the stop Shamrock in 1903, and so the town returned to the original name. In the same year a new school opened in the small settlement and the town began to compete with nearby Story and Benonine as local trade centers. By 1906, Shamrock had emerged as the leader and businesses from the other two small towns moved to Shamrock. Neither Story nor Benonine exist today.

By 1908, Shamrock had two banks, a Cotton Oil Mill, and several other businesses. Shamrock was incorporated in 1911 with E. L. Woodley as the first mayor. By 1925 the population had grown to 2,500. The very next year saw the discovery of oil in the area and the arrival of the Mother Road and Shamrock began to boom.

The Old "Reynolds Hotel" was completed 1928, which housed many weary travelers for approximately 50 years. Today, the building is home to the Pioneer West Museum.

U Drop Inn Postcard, Shamrock, Texas

Tower Station and U-Drop Inn, 1936 Postcard

Boasting nearly 4,000 residents by 1930, Shamrock catered to the many travelers of Route 66 and Highway 83. Its main avenue was rife with garages, filling stations, restaurants and tourist courts. Among these were the Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Restaurant. Representing the art-deco style that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s, the building was completed in 1936. Local newspapers reported it as "the swankiest of swank eating places" and "the most up-to-date edifice of its kind on the U.S. Highway 66 between Oklahoma City and Amarillo." The U-Drop Inn, where "Delicious Food Courteously Served" became the standard, was a welcoming sight to highway travelers and the many buses that pulled in at the diner.