The Kan-O-Tex Service Station in Galena, Kansas, United States is a Kan-O-Tex

filling station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

that originally served

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

motorists in 1934. Currently, it is a

souvenir shop A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections ...

, snack bar, and

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

History

US Route 66 was designated in 1926; by 1929

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

were the first to completely pave their respective segments of this highway. Little's Service Station installed its fuel pumps on the former site of the Banks Hotel (demolished 1933) at 119 North Main Street in Galena; an

automobile repair shop An automobile repair shop (also known regionally as a garage or a workshop) is an establishment where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and technicians. The customer interface is typically a Customer service representative, service adv ...

was added later. Before

Interstate 44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, T ...

opened in the area in 1961, bypassing

entirely, US Route 66 in Kansas was a vibrant part of the "Mother Road" which led from

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. In 1979, US 66 in Galena was taken off its former Main Street alignment (which came in from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

as Front Street, turned south on Main Street, then followed the current K-66 route to Riverton) and routed directly onto 7th Street, bypassing the station. US 66 would become Kansas State Route 66 in 1985, but the station sat vacant, closed and largely abandoned until its 2007 restoration.

Restoration

The Kan-O-Tex Service Station bears the branding of the former

Kanotex Refining Company The Kanotex Refining Company (reporting mark: KOTX), a regional oil refinery and gasoline distributor, began operation in Caney, Kansas, in 1909, a successor to the Superior Refining Company. The company's logo was a Kansas sunflower behind a fiv ...

(1909-1953), a now-defunct regional fuel brand named for

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The Kan-O-Tex logo was a Kansas

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...

behind a five-point star. The station is home to a 1951

International International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

boom truck on which

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

's animated character

Tow Mater Tow Mater is a fictional anthropomorphic tow truck and major character in the Disney/Pixar ''Cars'' franchise. His appearances include the feature films ''Cars'', ''Cars 2'', and ''Cars 3,'' as well as in the TV series ''Cars Toons'' and '' Cars ...

was based;

Joe Ranft Joseph Henry Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. His younger broth ...

, a Pixar animator, discovered it during a research trip for the movie ''

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

''. In April 2011, a Disney/Pixar crew returned to interview the station's owners for a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

release of

Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American animated spy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to '' Cars'' (2006), the second film in the ''Cars'' franchise, and the 12th animated film from the studio ...

. As the "Mater" name is a

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

, the original truck has been named "Tater." The station was restored in 2007 and renamed 4 Women on the Route. Following an ownership change and the death of one of the founders of 4 Women on the Route, it was renamed again, becoming Cars on the Route, to emphasize its connection with ''Cars.'' Located seven blocks north of the current (7th Street) Kansas Route 66, the station retains the original aesthetic design of the

fuel pump A Fuel pump is a component used in many liquid-fuelled engines (such as petrol/gasoline or diesel engines) to transfer the fuel from the fuel tank to the device where it is mixed with the intake air (such as the carburetor or fuel inject ...

s and exterior

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

but places a

diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

-style lunch counter in what once would have been the

service bay An automobile repair shop (also known regionally as a garage or a workshop) is an establishment where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and technicians. The customer interface is typically a service advisor, traditionally called a ser ...

of the station's repair garage. It operates seasonally, closing for the winter and reopening in the spring.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Cars on the Route
previously 4 Women on the Route, at kansastravel.org
Cars on the Route Facebook page
Gas stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas Gas stations on U.S. Route 66 Buildings and structures in Cherokee County, Kansas Retail buildings in Kansas U.S. Route 66 in Kansas Transportation in Cherokee County, Kansas Energy infrastructure completed in 1934 1934 establishments in Oklahoma