Founded around the turn of the 20th century by an English rancher, Alfred Rowe, who later lost his life on the Titanic in 1912, McLean (pop. 830) is now perhaps the most evocative town along the Texas stretch of Route 66. Bypassed only in the early 1980s, the old main drag is eerily silent, with a few businesses—a barber shop, a boot shop, and some motels, including one with a fine Texas-shaped neon sign—holding on despite the drop in passing trade.
McLean is now headquarters of the state’s Historic Route 66 Association, and efforts are being made to preserve the town in prime condition, which explains the lovingly restored Phillips 66 station at 1st and Gray Streets (on the westbound stretch of old Route 66—the pumps price gas at 19 cents a gallon!), and the many other odds and ends on display around town. The center of activity here is the wonderful Devil’s Rope Museum (daily; free; 806/779-2225), at 100 S. Kingsley Street at the east end of downtown, which has a huge room full of barbed wire—the “Devil’s Rope”—and some of the most entertaining and educational collections of Route 66 memorabilia you’ll find anywhere. No hype, just lots of good stuff and friendly people telling you all about it.
Midway between McLean and the Oklahoma border, the town of Shamrock marks the junction of Route 66 and US-83, The Road to Nowhere along the 100th Meridian.
