Places That Were

I'm always struck with the sadness of these places that people pinned their hopes on. Must be extremely difficult--pouring your money into a place and then watching it all collapse around you.

I used to live there years ago when it was booming truckstop my dad had a shop there

And I have a "vase" for a Person that used to live there. I was to hold it for her until she returned to Mesquite Texas. Have had it since 1988 and I have had not luck finding her, I wonder where the county seat is and then they might be able to locate her.

Hey Jim, that little car is Renault Dauphine and it was the best-selling import car of 1959. They were pretty cheap and comfortable but very unreliable. In fact, so many of them were breaking down so often, that the manufacturer was apologizing for this whole model line a few years later. The glass bottle you see in its trunk (the engine sat in the back) is a brake fluid reservoir.
Keep up the great job!

I used to stop there on my way to Texas in the mid to late '90s, but haven't been by there in years. I was stationed in Arizona at the time. Maybe the Love's truck stop in Lordsburg was too much competition. BTW, the motel still has an operating website.

I used to live in Road Forks with family who owned a portion of the truck stop, bar and motel. It was a fun place to live. I swam in that pool as a kid, hung out in the bar and worked shortly as a waitress. I still have a Shady Grove Restaurant Menu I saved. Inside the truck stop was an arcade, gift shop, salon (for a bit), shoe shine, post office, store in the back for truckers and of course the restaurant. I loved their salsa and chips and they had great corn bread. Last time I visited there back in 1999, I stayed at the Desert West. I had fond memories of that place. It was a bustling back in the 90's. I will miss you Road Forks.

I've been there. I remember when it was still a functioning restaurant.

I was stationed with the border patrol in the national guard that area 2006-7 timeframe. It was still open and doing a good business in those years. Oversize /permit loads may not take the interstate accross there to or from El Paso, so they have to detour down state route 80 thru the backwoods desert. So that's a natural stopping/ fueling point. Also at that time the deeming truck terminal in deming was still open and doing a good business.( halfway point between El Paso and Tucson supposedly) when the new petro travel plaza/ stopping center opened up just outside of deming, it put both of these older more traditional/ independent truck stops out of business.

I lived there from 1970-1973 the owners. Were the grahams i remember my brothers worked on the fuel. Side my parents worked in the restaurant

It used to be a "goin' jessie" for a while. People would holler "Watch out the cow haulers are comin' in".
Get 3 or 4 us together & it was a wild time in Shady Grove.

I stopped at this exit to visit the phantom fire work shop and immediately noticed the abandoned motel and is gas station. I love places like this. I wondered what the history of this place was and I googled the name and found this site. After reading the posts in here I was able to learn the history and read lovely stories about this place. Thank you all for the history and unforgettable memories you share with people like me. I do have one question: on my way back into new Mexico I wanted to roam around and maybe go into the motel and motel tavern to take pictures. Is this illegal to do and could I get in trouble if I entered the buildings. For some reason I feel connected with this place. Thank you for your time.

I lived and grew up in cotton city about 14 or so miles from road forks. I remember my mother worked at the restaurant as a waitress. Oh my the fun those waitresses had.. I remember Freda another lady waitress they all joked around it was constantly hopping back in the days. With the arcade game room, shoe shine, hair cuts, gift store, big place where it was a truckers dream to go buy everything it had anything they ever wanted, a radio shop and of course the wonderful restaurant. They had a bar across the road didnt ever seem it was empty either. Constant semis gasing up and convenience store there on site plus another store across the road. Semis and cars parked everywhere people sleeping or enjoying the views. Not far away is the beautiful mountains. Had a tire shop also... What a dream it would be to reopen it.... Love it back then.

Stopped there in April 2017 and took pictures outside, didn't take any inside. Nice to hear some of the history from people that were there when everything was still open.

I lived there From 1970 until 1973. I worked as a bus boy in the restaurant for Jane (Graham) Coogan. My brother Mike worked for Johnny Graham in the truck stop.

I also lived there as a child must of been mid1980s was a bustling little town i remember the grahams played alot of games in that game room. Scott

Anyone that lived there during this time can contact me at mybirl@aol.com, would be interesting to find the kids i played with i cant remember their names i do remember one little blonde haired girl i think she was related to the grahams somehow. There was also a little boy i played with his dad was a mechanic i think and mother or stepmother was mexican. we used to crush cans together lol

When I was young we traveled from our home in Kansas to New Mexico and Arizona often. My Dad trucked through there a lot and had many stories of the people and places along that Highway. Interstates don't compare to the roads from that era because you just fly by and don't stop to smell the roses.

Who's the owner of the restaurant now .?

I’m always seeking Abandon places to explore. Back in 2005, I Stopped at that gas station for a Soda, and it was pretty nice then. Sad to see these places go out of business, and seems to be more of it happening.

Yes, the newer chain travel plazas put most of these kind of places out. Truckers changed and a new breed of 'people driving trucks' wanted fast food and all the comforts of gaming and such that old-school truckstops did not offer. You readers can visit the Doswell Truckstop over in Doswell, Va (exit 98 on I-95) and you can see the same happened to them. Another is the Stateline Truckstop up on I-90 in West Springfield, Pa, and so on. I always stop at Flash Foods at Harriets Bluff on I-95 about exit 7 in Georgia. Its not visible from the interstate, but still open and has lots of truck parking. It was a beautiful truckstop when it opened and had friendly people with hot 24 hour full deli meals (meatloaf, mashed potatos, pies, hot vegetables et). When the mega chain plazas came on the scene it went downhill. Partly because the stockholders don' want to put any money in it. Theyhave free showers but the Cat Scale is gone and its junky looking because they allow a repair shop to operate in the back and it ruined the look of the place. Anyhow, it was a nice quiet place back in the late 90's. I prefer the small dirt lot and ma and pa stops simply because they are not full most of the time and I am not tied-up with unprofessional 'people driving trucks' that can park and cant drive getting into them.

Anyone remember Carl's down in Carl's Corner,Tx.? Ted's out in Arizona? The Big K up in Kingsville, Ohio, the Green Shingle in Sterritania, Pa.?

I loved reading the 08/24/2017 posting because the waitress Freda (actually spelled Frieda) was my mother. She worked there for 17 years and I have many fond memories of going there as a kid. My very first job was working as a dishwasher in the restaurant. It was a bustling place in its heyday.

I trucked from the east coast to California all through the 80’s 90’s and into the 2000’s and would stop there just about every trip. It was a good place to fuel up, eat, shower or spend the night. If I had the time or ran into a truckin friend we might park there for the night and go across the road to the bar and flirt with the waitress if it was a weekend. Spent a few nights in the Desert West motel over the years it was a nice place back in the day. I spent most my life trucking all across America and have fond memories of other places just like Shady Grove. Tucumcari Travel Plaza in Tucumcari,NM is another shut down truck stop that in its heyday was a great place to stop . There are a lot of other good o’l places that are gone forever.

I lived in Road Forks back in the 70's.I was 15 years old. I worked as a waitress during the summer. I met my future husband there. He also worked there. It was always busy there especially at the restaurant. There was also a mobile home park there for the employees. Its hard believe it's all gone.

i use to stop and get my story straight before going thru the port in arizona.

In 1970 I was 18 and ran double with one of my mentors in trucking, J.B.Adams. We always stopped here going and coming from NC to Cali. and home again. Always fueled there for free showers and we were on the bed lining exchange feature they had for regular truckers. Their sheets 1 fitted 1 flat and 2 pillow cases were a Salmon color and always seemed cool and fresh scented. Had the best Mexican food too. Always packed full of drivers. Hate to see it go to hell like this.

I RAN AROUND WITH MIKE I LIVED AND WORKED AT JOHNS TRUCK SER HAD A TRAILER DOWN BELOW THE SHOP IS MIKE STILL AROUND OR DID THE PARTY LIFE GET WE USTED GO NITE HUNTS VETT DID DO SO WELL JUST CURIOS JAMES PARKS

WELL LETS SEE WHAT COMES OUT OF THIS

I used to work there but most of all I loved my shady grove family. I dated Ernie vreeland for quite Some time. I love his parents sisters and nieces and nephews. The grahams were also family johnny and all the kids. So sad that place closed down after so many years.

Do you know if it's for sale

That would be great if someone from the TV shows would purchase this property and refurbish it!!

I remember ditching school back in the 80’s and we would always go to roadworks to play the cool games in the arcade and to always grab a great burger and check out the trucks! It was always a great time!! We did numerous road fork trips

I CAN REMEMBER THE ORIGINAL SHADY GROVE LATE 1940'S 1950'S...WHEN THE HIGHWAY WAS HIGHWAY 86...WHERE I-10 IS NOW...THERE IS ONLY CEMENT PIECES WHERE THE ORIGINAL WAS. THE GRAHAMS HAD IT THEN, JUDY, JOHN, JANE, AND IT WAS ROAD FORKS THEN TOO. QW LIVED JUST DOWN THE ROAD AT A SHELL STATION ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, AT THE GARY EXIT. MY UNCLE USED TO WORK THERE. THAT FUNNY LOOKING PICTURE HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IS, USED TO WEIGH THE TRUCKS WHEN THEY CAME THROUGH. GOOD MEMORIES!

GOOD MEMORIES FOR SURE...I WAS BORN IN LORDSBURG, RAISED 9 MILES WEST AT THE SHELL STATION. SO SAD THAT SHADY GROVE IS GONE..WE HAD AN EXCELLENT MEAL AT THE RESTAURANT IN 2000......

Stay tuned. We are bringing this station back on line

In 1974 I hauled cattle out of El Paso. On every trip to California I would stop at Shady Grove. It was a great truck stop in part because it wasn't one of the cookie cutter chains like Union 76. Great memories.

IT was a cool place I'm sure for DRIVERS, kind of an Oasis in the desert. Quite the story of how Mr. And Mrs. Graham had their first little cafe, were bought out by the Highway Dept. and had the incentive to move across the road and start what was their own little empire. Freaky as hell to go there a few years back and see it totally destroyed, BUT you DO NOT treat people as Mr. Graham and his daughters treated me and not pay a price. That old bastard attacked me the first time I stopped at the gas station, got a tank of gas and was getting a small container of water. NOT sure how he knew me already but he says, "what are you doing?" I said just getting a little water. "He says, get the hell out of here, and don't be getting any water from here. AS I've said before, Johnny Graham treated me much differently and helped when he could, but THOSE damn sisters of his, just selfish as hell. Mighta been the water, because Lordsburg was like that, they fought me every day I stayed at Steins and tried to save what was left of that little town. YOU know there's a problem when town has OVER 5,000 in 1977, and 2019, 2,408.

Resurrection has begun

We are proud to announce Shady Grove Truckstop is now open. Stop in and share your stories of days gone by.

stopped at the truck stop and used the restroom. the desert west hotel has been burned to a crisp and even more abandoned now

My husband was a trucker. We always stopped there running California. They had everything there. I bought a vactus set there once. They had a trucker's museum that was nice. Saw but avoided my paternal grandmother whom I did not like there once. She lived in NM in the 40's. Some of my grandfather's family and her sisters lived there.

Cactus set.

The truck stop has reopened and I stop here often. As a matter of fact, I'm here tonight. The hotel has burned to the ground as previously mentioned. As of a couple of weeks ago, the tire shop across the street was set on fire as well by people lighting fireworks near the old gas pumps. I attempted to assist a woman to put it out, but tires against the structure were on fire and it was too hot so we waited for the fire departments of various small towns nearby to put it out. Much of the interior has burned, but the structure still stands, like the hotel next door.

I spent about 6 months at 'Road Forks' back in the early 70's.
It was a place to make a little money while hitchhiking from southern CA.to MI. I place to 'winter over' while waiting for warmer weather back home in Michigan.
I worked as a fuel attendant at the truck stop, working graveyard shift fueling semi trucks.
There was a small trailer park across the street where the workers lived. As a 17 year old young man I lived and learned a lot in that little corner of NM. I still think back on it often.

I worked at Phantom Fireworks during holiday season in '17 or '18. It always made me sad seeing the abandoned places,wondering about the lives of those who once lived or worked there. Warren if you come back to read comments- I lived in Lordsburg for 3 years and you're right, that place is disturbed. I feel bad for the few good people I met there.

I was a Schwan man from 94 - 2000 . I spent many a night there at the motel and of course the bar .Seth , Johnny , and Eyes the bartender were all fantastic . They were all good customers also .

It is open again for fuel bathrooms and as a convenience store. We fill up with Diesel when traveling back and fort from Silver City, NM to Tucson. Right now their diesel prices are about 25 cents less then Lordsburg. The Kinder-Morgan pipeline runs to the south of the truck stop, as I understand they built their own tanks along the line so they could absorb the fuel transport costs.

Stopped off there in 1979,late at night, with the high school band heading back from a football game in Douglas, AZ. A drunk opened the back door of the bus and tried to get in and got kicked in the face.