MattB
09-09-2015, 09:10 PM
Last Friday. I went through Guthrie on the way out and back.
Mulhall was a town that began as a Santa Fe railroad station. The only thing of any real interest in the town is Lucille's restaurant, which has a reputation that reaches across the miles and has become a biker's destination of sorts. The restaurant sits on the edge of the old Mulhall ranch where Will Rogers and Tom Mix once worked as a young man and is named for Lucille Mulhall, who is credited as being one of first cowgirls.Mulhall was one of the first women to compete with men in roping and riding events. She was hailed in the early 20th century as a "Rodeo Queen," "Queen of the Western Prairie," and "Queen of the Saddle." Lucille is believed to have retired to her family's ranch in Mulhall around 1922 and died in a car accident just a few miles north of the restaurant site in the 1940s.
Historic photographs of the real Lucille, with tousled fair hair and wearing spurs and leather chaps, adorn the restaurant's walls.
Lucille's was first opened in the 1990s in Mulhall's historic 1893 Oklahoma State Bank building that sits in the center of town on U.S. 77.
A fire destroyed the original restaurant in 2009, but the bank building, which has been stripped down to its studs, survives. The old bank vault is still visible inside the building and the structure has a new roof, and is ready to be restored as a bed and breakfast or reception area and bridal suite for weddings.
The owners were able to salvage the original bar from the former restaurant — once part of the bank's original counter — when they rebuilt the restaurant next door to the old bank building in 2010.
Amazingly, I was able to get a clear photo of the vault and counter in the bank through the locked glass door. There was another small stand-up safe on on opposite wall.
Just south of the town is the Cimarron river and a boring modern concrete bridge, and then another bridge that passes over Skeleton Creek. Just past the creek is a beautiful area of bluffs on one side of the road and the creek alongside the other with twists and turns in the road. There is a canopy of trees shading much of the area, so it is an especially nice place to stop if you're riding.
Mulhall was a town that began as a Santa Fe railroad station. The only thing of any real interest in the town is Lucille's restaurant, which has a reputation that reaches across the miles and has become a biker's destination of sorts. The restaurant sits on the edge of the old Mulhall ranch where Will Rogers and Tom Mix once worked as a young man and is named for Lucille Mulhall, who is credited as being one of first cowgirls.Mulhall was one of the first women to compete with men in roping and riding events. She was hailed in the early 20th century as a "Rodeo Queen," "Queen of the Western Prairie," and "Queen of the Saddle." Lucille is believed to have retired to her family's ranch in Mulhall around 1922 and died in a car accident just a few miles north of the restaurant site in the 1940s.
Historic photographs of the real Lucille, with tousled fair hair and wearing spurs and leather chaps, adorn the restaurant's walls.
Lucille's was first opened in the 1990s in Mulhall's historic 1893 Oklahoma State Bank building that sits in the center of town on U.S. 77.
A fire destroyed the original restaurant in 2009, but the bank building, which has been stripped down to its studs, survives. The old bank vault is still visible inside the building and the structure has a new roof, and is ready to be restored as a bed and breakfast or reception area and bridal suite for weddings.
The owners were able to salvage the original bar from the former restaurant — once part of the bank's original counter — when they rebuilt the restaurant next door to the old bank building in 2010.
Amazingly, I was able to get a clear photo of the vault and counter in the bank through the locked glass door. There was another small stand-up safe on on opposite wall.
Just south of the town is the Cimarron river and a boring modern concrete bridge, and then another bridge that passes over Skeleton Creek. Just past the creek is a beautiful area of bluffs on one side of the road and the creek alongside the other with twists and turns in the road. There is a canopy of trees shading much of the area, so it is an especially nice place to stop if you're riding.