Will Rogers Archway Explained

Will Rogers Archway
Established:1957
Street-Address:767 Will Rogers Turnpike
City:Vinita
County:Craig County
State:Oklahoma
Postcode:74301
Country:United States
Coordinates:36.6233°N -95.148°W

The Will Rogers Archway, originally named the Glass House Restaurant and still nicknamed "The Glass House",[1] [2] is a 29135square feet[3] service station that spans the Will Rogers Turnpike section of Interstate 44 (I-44) near Vinita, Oklahoma. Previously operating as a McDonald's restaurant, it was notable as the first bridge restaurant opened over a U.S. highway[4] and as an example of a U.S. roadside restaurant. When it was solely a McDonald's, it was the world's largest McDonald's before the current largest McDonald's in the world located in Orlando, Florida was built.

The archway also features a Kum & Go (previously a Phillips 66)[5] gas station.

The building and service plaza closed on June 4, 2013, for a $14.6 million renovation.[6] At its grand reopening on December 22, 2014, it was renamed from "Glass House Restaurant" to "Will Rogers Archway",[7] although the renaming was actually officiated in August 2014.[2] McDonald's still operates in the archway post-renovation, but it is now joined by a separate Subway franchise in the building.[2]

At the front of the west anchor stands a statue of Will Rogers. The building contains a small Will Rogers museum.[8]

Gallery

Pre-2014 renovation

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Will Rogers Archway. Timberlake Construction. 2023-07-04. mdy-all.
  2. Web site: Will Rogers Archway. Travel Oklahoma. 2023-07-04. mdy-all.
  3. Book: Peter . Matthews . Michelle . Dunkley McCarthy . Mark (CON) . Young . The Guinness Book of Records . 1994 . Facts on File . 9780816026456 .
  4. Web site: Glass House Oral History Project . 2023-12-01 . library.okstate.edu . en.
  5. Book: Witzel, Michael Karl . Strange 66: Myth, Mystery, Mayhem, and Other Weirdness on Route 66 . 2018 . Voyageur Press . 978-0-7603-6517-5 . 86– .
  6. Web site: Renovations . 2015-02-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150207184549/http://www.fox23.com/news/news/breaking-news/glass-house-to-get-146-million-renovation/ndhhp/#__federated=1. . 2015-02-07 . dead .
  7. Web site: Iconic arch over Will Rogers Turnpike reopens. Tulsa World. 12 January 2016.
  8. Book: King, Thomas . The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative . 2003 . House of Anansi Press . 978-0-88784-696-0 . 41– .