Speedy's Truck Stop and Fort Courage Tower

Above, Fort Courage's lookout tower. Will it be incorporated
 in the new Speedy's truck stop? Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since I posted the blog about the demolition of the late Fort Courage, I and the fine folks at Jack Rabbit Trading Post (of St. Joseph, Arizona) learned that the site is a planned Speedy's truck stop. There's a Speedy's truck stop next door to Tee Pee Trading Post in Lupton, Arizona. I got gasoline there yesterday.

If this is the case, I welcome such an establishment. Having driven along the Hauck, Arizona on Interstate 40 vicinity several times over the years, another place to fill the gas tank would be a good use of the site. 

As the "lookout tower" of Fort Courage seems to have been spared demolition, it would be nice to see it incorporated with the truck stop. At least that would be a great nod to roadside kitsch history. How they do it (if so) would be interesting to see. 

Roadside America has a page dedicated to Fort Courage. To see it, go here.

Arizona's Fort Courage Ruins Bulldozed

Above, a vintage post card of Fort Courage from the 1970s.

Drivers on Interstate 40 in eastern Arizona would see the ruins of Fort Courage, a one-time tourist trading post in Houck. It was built in 1967 and closed around 2014. It was sort of a salute to the television comedy, F Troop.

I imagine it was a popular stop during the 1960s and 1970s, but it went out of business.  

As I mentioned at the start, I would pass by Fort Courage whenever I was heading on Interstate 40 in Arizona. This time, while en route to the clamp-out in Prescott, I saw that Fort Courage was bulldozed into oblivion. The only remaining structures are the lookout tower and sign. It looks like the tower may be saved and incorporated into whatever is going to be built there. 

While on my way home today, I stopped and took some photos of the site.

Here's some photos I took today:

To read more about Fort Courage, go here.

I read that Speedy's will be building a truck stop at the site.