17 Feb Kozy Corner Trailer Park – what’s up with this place?
Somewhere along the road (I’m kicking myself now for not making note at least of a mile marker on the road) we came upon this desolate and apparently abandoned rest stop called Kozy Corner Trailer Park. (I’m guessing it’s not too far out of Kingman). The car pulled to a dusty stop as I jumped out snapping pics – but Richard felt very uneasy about the place and prodded me to hurry up. I, again, could have done a much more detailed photo essay here as I found it fascinating. I’m left with a big question mark, and I’m hoping someone with more Arizona Route 66 knowledge will come forward to fill in some details. What was it? What happened to it? When I showed the pictures to a friend from Arizona they said “Oh that used to be a chain of restaurants called ‘Nickerson Farms’”!
When you pull out of Seligman, Route 66 becomes truly “historic Route 66”! From here to Kingman Highway 40 is a beeline passing by the towns of Grand Canyon Caverns, Peach Springs, Truxton,Valentine, Hackberry, and Valle Vista. And sadly, many of these towns weren’t as enterprising as Seligman and have lost a lot of their luster. Traveling on a Sunday in January, most of the shops were closed – so we beat feet realizing we still had a long way to go before we got to our final destination of Palm Desert, California! (They said it couldn’t be done in one day!!)
A bit of research yields this result from Wikipedia:
“Nickerson Farms was an American roadside restaurant franchise that existed between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s. It was started by a former Stuckey’s franchisee who did not agree with that chain’s rules and regulations. Nickerson Farms had as many as sixty restaurants located alongInterstate highways, mainly in the Midwestern United States. Each Nickerson Farms location had a full-room restaurant, with a gift shop. Honey, collected from on-site beehives, could also be purchased at Nickerson Farms stores. The majority of Nickerson Farms locations sold Skelly gasoline and other petroleum products.”
Such a mysterious place!
This one’s my personal favorite! Never seen a phone booth like this before!
G.Tripp
Posted at 22:36h, 21 OctoberHi, in answer to this question about Cozy Corner. It used to be (in late 80’s) an inexpensive wayside motel; some rooms had been converted to small 2 bed apartments a family could live in comfortably on the cheap.
There was also some trailer spaces down the hill behind the main building .The A-frame was a diner that made a bit of cash but mostly fed the residents that made their
home there.
Maybe once upon a time Cozy Corner saw a bustling array of life by way of a steady stream of folks on thier way to sightsee or to change their life. When I lived there it was a stop for people seeking solitude away or making a home until something better came thru. I moved right before 1990. Never really went back. Literally and figuretively(sp)
Thank you for letting me rattle on remembering a life and a place so long ago for me and miles of life lessons and experience between.
Mary Anne Erickson
Posted at 17:49h, 25 OctoberSo appreciate your peek at the backstory here. It was strange as much of abandoned Route 66 stops are to see something that was once appealing to people, now so desolate. Hope you’re enjoying your life in a lovely spot!