The Bug Ranch in Conway, Texas has been growing in popularity among the many tourist attractions located along Historic Route 66. What makes this roadside curiosity interesting to me is that it is not part of the original Route 66 legacy, it is not located on any of the original alignments and yet, it is making Route 66 history today!

 
A postcard usually has a description of the image shown on the front side of the card. During the process of getting enough information about the site to write up a good description, I discovered there wasn't enough credible information available for a short description! I realized this is a perfect example of how contemporary history can slide into myth and legend and the true story is lost altogether. If I was going to use that image for a postcard I knew I would need to find the real story for my description.

The actual task of discovering the factual information related to the site became a whole story in itself!  Three trips to Conway and twice to Panhandle from Amarillo, several phone calls and emails, one fax and over a dozen personal interviews created quite an adventure for me in my attempt to document endangered history. It is a long but interesting story but I won't get into that here. I will keep this short and tell you what I have discovered so far.

History of the Bug Ranch in Conway, Texas

The Crutchfield family opens a roadside curio shop and service station during 1967 in Conway, Texas. The businesses were located on the southern Interstate 40 access road where Hwy 207 intersects the interstate.

Conway was at the peak of its population growth at that time. In 1969 it had 175 residents, but by 1970 it reported a population of fifty, two grain elevators, four service stations, three cafes, and a general store. The post office was discontinued by 1976, and some of these businesses have since closed. The population was still listed as fifty in 1990. In 2000, however, it had dropped to twenty.

By 2002, a Loves Country Store truck stop located at the intersection north of I-40 was the main benefactor of traffic stopping for fuel and food along the interstate.

One of the Crutchfield boys was reputed to be a very good bulldozer operator and other types of earth moving equipment. (NOTE: I have not been able to get in contact with Mr. Crutchfield in order to verify the facts of this historical account.) Crutchfield apparently decided to improve business by undertaking a project to construct a roadside attraction to lure customers to the curio store, service station and perhaps a liquor store was open by then.

He was inspired by the Cadillac Ranch roadside attraction when he obtained five VW Beetles from a source in Amarillo and hauled them to Conway in order to create his own artistic parody of the more notable collection of Cadillacs west of Amarillo. He used a front end loader to dig a hole and bury the nose of each car taking care to tilt them at the same angle. New signs promoting the "Bug Ranch" attraction were painted and hung on the store front and some publicity was generated in the local media.

Those efforts may have paid off in some extra customers and visitors dropping by to take a look, but it apparently wasn't enough to survive on. The businesses were closed in 2003. Crutchfield is reported to have moved to East Texas.

The property has remained largely abandoned since then but the Bug Ranch continued to satisfy the curiosities of travelers and even high-tech treasure hunters are homing in on the location.

The Bug Ranch has been mentioned in the defunct Route 66 Pulse, numerous magazine articles, travel blogs and other public forums geared to the mystique of getting your kicks on Route 66. Visitors to the site began using spray paint and markers to decorate and sign the Beetles taking on the same tradition observed at the Cadillac Ranch.

The site is published on web site dedicated to the popular international Geocaching sport as an official geocache location. One of the cars at the Bug Ranch has been designated as the cache target and can be found by using a GPS receiver to find the spot at designated coordinates. Successful finds include signing the car at that location. The car itself is used as the official cache log.

________________

I am aware that there are more details and holes to fill in order to properly document the full history of the Bug Ranch. Some of the details are needed in the official story and the rest are better left up to the interests of future historians. I am still working to get confirmation on some of the facts and of course I really would like to have the opportunity to interview Rick Crutchfield.

If you know some information about the story of the Bug Ranch not mentioned here or have comments or corrections to make in the above account then feel free to use the comments section at the bottom of this page or use this site's Contact page to reach me privately.