West Winds Motel - Erick

The West Winds Motel is located on Roger Miller Boulevard, along Historic Route 66, in Erick, Oklahoma.  Originally settled in 1902, Erick was an agricultural town 7 miles from the Oklahoma/Texas border.  During the Great Depression and the subsequent Dust Bowl, the town lost many of its businesses and fell on very hard times.  That all changed during WWII.  The town thrived again and by the end of the war it could boast of 7 auto repair shops, 9 filling stations, 3 auto supply stores, 2 auto dealerships, 2 hotels, and 4 tourist courts, of which the West Winds was one.  It was built probably sometime between 1946 and 1948, in the Mission Revival Style, and was formed in the shape of a U, as most motor courts of that time were, with each unit having its own separate garage.  The West Winds is significant in that it represents a style of architecture midway between the cottage courts of years past, and the motels which would soon dominate the Route 66 roadway.  The motel has fallen into disrepair in recent years, but its classic neon sign, of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco, rusted and fading, stills sits out front, facing Route 66.  The West Winds was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

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