Ludlow, California: More Than Ice Cream and Gasoline
Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe, Atlantic and Pacific Rail Road, Barnie Oldfield, Barstow High School, Beatty, Calico, California Department of Public Works, Cameron Friend, Camp Rochester, Cliffie Hoffman, Constable Pendergast, Copenhagen, Dairy Queen, Death Valley, Evel Knievel, Jack Sheridan, Lee Yim, Los Angeles to Phoenix Auto Race, Ludlow, Ludlow Cafe, Ludlow Cemetery, Ludlow Motel, Ludlow-Southern, Ma Preston, Matilda Preston, Mike L. McNeill, Mike Murphy, Mother Preston, Murphy Bros. General Store and Dry Goods, National Trails Highway, Nevada, Operation Plowshare, Pendergast Hotel, Penny Pendergast, Project Carryall, Santa Fe Railway, Santa Fe RR, Sheriff Shay, Stagg, Tom Murphy, Tom Preston, Tonopah, Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad, US Atomic Energy Commission, Venus McNeill, Vernie Sheridan, W.W. Cahill, Water
Rob Franklin
Great write-up of Ludlow! We live in Kingman, AZ and have stopped a few times. Going to have to set aside a couple of hours to explore more after reading this. Never know of Plowshare program. Fascinating.
Jaylyn
Thanks so much, Rob. We appreciate your comments. We will be doing a write-up of Kingman in the near future. Have fun!
Mike L. McNeill
Wonderful article. I lived in Ludlow in the forties as a kid, and knew everyone in town.Went to school in the still standing school house that was later converted to a residence. Jack Sheridan was the bus driver that took the older kids in to Barstow every school house. His wife, Vernie, was the postmistress. The Pendergast motel was really owned by Venus McNeill , who married Penny and then got him appointed by powers in San Bernardino to the constables job. Venus was my dad’s cousin. Her father was the Santa Fe section forman , and later the track supt. on the track between there and Needles. Let me know if you want some more info…..
Jaylyn
Wow, how interesting, Mike! Thanks for pointing out details we were unaware of. I will add them to the main article. Please shoot us more info to our email if you don’t mind…
jearl.thedesertway@gmail.com
We so very much appreciate your comments and help.
Maria
Very interesting and informative article. Thank you
Charlene
As one turning 62 in a couple of weeks, I long for the “good old days”. So much has changed. My mother, who passed in 1993, and I went to “Friends Cafe” several times. Seems like we went before it was even “Friends”. As I sit watching Andy Griffith and how life in Mayberry is so much better than.some places today, I wondered if “Friends” was still there. It is. Wonderful! I really enjoyed your article, it was poignant and brought back such memories of days gone by. Thanks.
Jaylyn
You’re right, Charlene. Things nowadays sure are different. It sounds like you have maintained your wholesome values though, and the world certainly can benefit from that. Thanks for sharing!
Omar Ruiz
I was trying to find info on what looks like a ranch home? behind the dairy queen. They had a awsome donkey in the land by the parking lot. Any info on that building?
Desert Girl
Wow!. I use to live in Ludlow back when I was between the ages 6-8(i think) maybe younger..around 1975. We lived in the santa fe housing(i think thats what they were) across the tracks, my grandpa worked for the railroad. My little sister & I use to ride the school bus to newberry springs. Wow it seemed such a long ride. I went back in 2011 with my children, to show them where I grew up and moved out to yermo after grandpa retired from the santa fe railroad. I remember the Friends Coffee shop. My older brother worked as a dish washer there. We played all over ludlow, the cemetary, the mining areas, old homes, tree house in the middle of the santa fe housing(I wish i had some old pictures of the santa fe housing)just a memory. Oh geez I can go on and on. I remember the hot french fries served at the Friends coffee shop, served up in a basket…that was a treat for us, only thing we would order and spend our money on. So many good memories there. I had to take my own kids there, too see what it was like to be a real kid & have fun. The desert was our playground:) Wow I can go on forever. A memory sparked LUDLOW, so here i am . Will soon visit again….thanks for reading. grandma & grandpa RIP thanks for raising us. luvya
Judy Swanson. Maude
Great story. I also lived in Ludlow in late 40’s and early 50’s with my parents and sister. Went to the Ludlow School and lived in the state yards. My aunt and uncle lived there before we did. Watched the Murphy Store burn along with all of the town people. Remember most of the people you mention especially Lee Yim who always gave me sister and me a piece of sugar cane to chew on
Jaylyn
Sounds like it was an amazing place to grow up. Thanks for sharing your story, Judy.
David Boicourt
Here is another missing piece of the puzzle picture. Around 1940, according to my mother June Blankenship, her sister Laura Blankenship married Michael Murphy. Michael Murphy died soon after and Laura inherited his properties, and so their father – Elgie Blankenship – moved to Ludlow with June and his wife Jennie in order to help Laura run the store, garage and cafe. Here is my Mom’s accounting of her time in Ludlow:
“Another event changed my life. My father gave up his secure job with Standard Oil to take over what amounted to most of a town fifty miles east of Barstow that had belonged to my older sister’s husband who had died rather suddenly. He was much older than my sister and she was left with owning most of this Route 66 highway stop called Ludlow, California. It consisted of a café, motel, car repair garage, service station, general store, small hotel, a few houses, a diesel power plant, a water system served by water deliveries from Santa Fe Railroad tank cars, and a small Catholic Church built by my sister’s departed husband, Michael Murphy, who had emigrated from Ireland and would bring the Priest out from Barstow periodically. San Bernardino County is as big as some states and there were no county services in Ludlow. The population consisted of employees of my family, employees of the Santa Fe Railroad track maintenance, miners working in area gold mines, a Chinese family who had a tiny store next to the railroad station and sold snacks to the train crews, and an ever changing assortment of desert characters. Ludlow had been an important stop on the migrations of families from the dust bowl to California. They always asked “How far is it to Bakersfield?” where they hoped to find work in the fields. They were continuing to arrive in the period before we entered the war. Their cars were usually 1930’s vintage and often were on their last “legs”. There were usually several hungry children and when they saw big stacks of pancakes come out of the kitchen of our café, their sad, tired faces lit up. The father was especially glad when he saw that he could get a stack of pancakes for 35 cents with generous containers of butter and syrup on the table. There were times however when they could not afford even pancakes and the father would buy a loaf of bread and some baloney at our store and they would sit under the one big tree on the property and make a meal. I lived in Bakersfield in the late sixties and seventies and was pleased to note that many of our neighbors were from Oklahoma and Arkansas. I wondered if they had come on that long journey in the 30’s and possibly had stopped in Ludlow for pancakes. The other patrons of our roadside stop were Greyhound Bus passengers. “The Greyhound” was an important cross country transportation in those days. We were a main stop and provided food and rest day and night. As the war heated up our clientele changed dramatically. There were constant convoys traveling Route 66. Soldiers were being trained in the harsh desert between 29 Palms and our area. We were warned that a bus load was going to stop and we would furiously make sandwiches and pass them out wrapped up for 25 cents as the soldiers lined up. I worked in the various businesses when not in school. It was very hard to find employees who would stay. These were very uncertain times and able bodied men were in the service or working in what we called “defense plants”. Women as well were taking jobs in factories. Cars had a way of breaking down out there in that remote part of the Mojave Desert, often because of overheating. Mechanics would come and go. We asked few questions about their past and I wondered why these wanderers were wandering. If they could fix cars we hired them. Occasionally a traveler would just abandon a car because he had no money and would depart on “The Greyhound” never to be heard of again. My first car was a 1940 Ford convertible, black with leather seats, that someone just left and my Dad had the mechanic fix it up for me. I thought I was so cool.”
Jaylyn
How interesting, David! Thank you for sharing your amazing memories for all of us to enjoy.
Mike L. McNeill
I have a lot more of old Ludlow type stuff that i got in a box I inherited from the holdings of Venus and Penny Pendercast. Venus was a old cousin type who died back in the sixties. Lots of poetry, from the old lady and history of the connections of the Champion Santa Fe McNeill family. her dad was section forman at Ludlow and then Roadmaster on the desert run, Always enjoy your stuff. And seeing my name and past information. Let me know what is a good mailing address for you and I’ll send you the stuff. You’ll enjoy it.
Jaylyn
Thanks so much, Mike! We sure appreciate your kindness and generosity and sent our address to your email. Again, thank you for sharing information about Venus and Penny!
Ben Smith
Wow! I lived in Ludlow from the mid-60s to 1972. I was about 6 through 11 years old. I remember Cam Friend and Luther. Dad worked for Cam and Luther owned the gas station on the north side of town. I watered Luther’s trees at his home when he planted them. Dad was the mechanic and tow truck driver. I spent many hours in the Ludlow garage working with dad or going out on breakdowns, accidents, etc. I also remember taking the bus into Newberry Springs, and on my third day of school,, on the way home the bus driver fell asleep and rolled the bus into a dry wash. Luckily no one was seriously injured. I also remember a tornado during that time which did a job on the trailers across 66 from the garage. I do remember it being hot!! On the other side of the tracks lived the Navajo, who worked for Santa Fe. They would spend part of the year in Arizona on the reservation as well. Mom left dad in 1972, just as I-40 was being completed between Ludlow and Needles. Long lost memories. Thank you for the in-depth look.