Texola, OK

Texola is the last town in Oklahoma before the Texas State Line. There are a few people living there, and there is a restaurant along I-40, but it pretty much is a ghost town along Route 66.

The buildings that remain are abandoned relics that once housed bars and beer joints. The feel you get is that Texola must have been some kind of border town where Texans in a dry county could come to get booze and party, but that's just a guess. In any event, Texola looks like it once Rocked Out.

A new addition to the Texola Ghost Town is the Tumbleweed Grill, housed in the 1930's Water Hole No. 2, which lets Tumbleweed's owner declare that it is the oldest working café on Route 66. It has been wonderfully restored using lumber from local abandoned buildings for the interior trim.

The Tumbleweed features home cooked food from 7:00 am to 7:00 PM, and breakfast is served all day. If you are passing Texola on I-40 rather than following the old road, you will have to exit and wind your way to the Ghost Town to find this oasis.

On the west side of town you can view a 1910 one cell Territorial Jail. It has a small display inside featuring articles about notorious outlaws like Belle Star, Billy the Kid, Jesse James and Black Bart. None of the featured outlaws ever was in that jail. The jail is not much to see, but it definitely would deter someone from a life of crime.