Sixteen miles West of Groom, Texas, is the ghost town of Conway. The last town on the Mother Road before reaching Amarillo, Conway began as a very small sheep and ranching community in the late 1800s. In 1892, the Lone Star School, said to be the first rural school that endured in the Panhandle, was established for the children of area ranchers and homesteaders.

The settlement changed and grew when the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railroad’s Choctaw Route came through in 1903. The same year, a post office was established, and the town was named for former Carson County Commissioner H.B. Conway. Brothers Delzell and P.H. Fisherin platted the town in 1905, and one of its first businesses was a store run by Edward S. Carr, where the post office moved in 1907. A railroad depot, a grocery store, and a blacksmith shop soon followed, and a steam-powered threshing machine served area wheat farmers. The community built an interdenominational church in 1912.

During the 1920s, agriculture in the Texas Panhandle boomed, and the oil industry boosted the local economy. That same decade, Conway formed a community club and began an annual community fair. In 1925, Conway’s population was just 25 residents.

But after the town was bypassed, people moved away, and businesses failed. In 1970, the town reported a population of just 50 people. However, it still supported two grain elevators, four service stations, three cafes, and a general store. Conway’s post office closed its doors forever in 1976, and the railroad terminated its operations in 1980. By 2000, Conway’s population had dropped to just 20 people.

In 2002, a Love’s Travel Stop truck stop was established at the same exit on the North side of the highway, drawing people away from Crutchfield’s station. To combat this, the family created another roadside attraction to lure customers: the VW Bug Ranch. As a parody of the Cadillac Ranch on Amarillo’s west side, five Volkswagen Beetles were buried nose down in the ground, and signs announced the “Bug Ranch.” They soon received some publicity and drew in more visitors. But it wouldn’t be enough. In 2003, the Rattlesnake Ranch, the curio shop, and the gas station were closed, and the Crutchfields moved away.

Today, Conway’s old school is boarded up, with no sign that a church ever existed; the Crutchfield’s Longhorn Ranch and service station are vandalized and in ruins, and former buildings now lie on the ground. The tiny town is home to just a handful of people. However, two motels still operate at the Conway exit: the Executive Inn at 9680 Interstate 40 Frontage Road and, just East, the Conway Inn at 9696 Interstate 40. Both have restaurant buildings, but neither appeared to be open during our last time through in 2018.

To continue the Route 66 journey, return South to the intersection of Texas Highway 207 and FM 2161 at the grain elevators in the old part of Conway, South of I-40, and turn West. This stretch of pavement, which runs for 7.2 miles before rejoining I-40, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 because it is the longest and best-preserved section of Route 66 in Texas. Though local traffic still uses the road, the abandoned railroad bed, the lack of modern buildings, the open rangeland, and the sheer quiet capture the feel of old Route 66 like few other places. Even the couple of concrete grain elevators along the route date to 1914.

After traversing this old stretch of pavement, continue your Route 66 tour by joining I-40 and heading West to Business I-40, then northwest to Business I-40/US 60 as it turns Southwest and merges with Amarillo Boulevard. On US Highway 60, you’ll pass by the old Amarillo Air Force Base property, now occupied by Amarillo College, through which the old pavement once traversed. You’ll also pass by the old English Field, Amarillo’s first airport.