Things to do in Shamrock, Texas for RVers
The little town of Shamrock, Texas offers a number of reasons to stop for the Route 66 traveler. In fact this is a must-stay spot along the Mother Road for a few very good reasons.
Why is Shamrock Shamrock - that’s no Blarney
Shamrock is named such by Irish immigrant sheep rancher, George Nickel, who suggested the moniker to encourage good luck for the burb.
The Blarney Stone in Shamrock Texas
The Blarney stones in Shamrock
The town reportedly has a piece of the Blarney Stone which was reportedly knocked off the original in Ireland. According to legend the town promised the original Blarney Stone folk that it would help promote tourism to Ireland.
Reportedly it was transported in armored trucks with armed guards and then set into the concrete pillar it rests in to this day. It was dedicated on St. Patrick’s Day in 1959.
But there’s another place where you can experience a bit of Blarney just up the road where there’s a plaque and yet another stone that you can kiss. This one is in Blarney Stone plaza which is a large open area where they’ve painted a little Irish-looking (I assume) town around it.
Whether these pieces are genuine, or just Blarney, it’s still a fun thing to experience in Shamrock.
Water tower in Shamrock
An odd tourist attraction in Shamrock is the town’s water tower which was erected in 1915 at a cost of $6,250. The appeal of the thing is that it’s over 172 feet tall and can hold 75,000 gallons of water. At that height, it’s still the tallest such structure in all of Texas. Wow.
Because of its height you can see the thing from quite a distance. The town is so proud of the elevated liquid vessel they’ve built a plaza around it with a nice mural and several plaques on the ground.
Naturally the tower represented a big improvement to the town as they would have to schlep water around in buckets before this was erected.
Shamrock had its official beginning with the arrival of the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway in the summer of 1902. In August, town lots were sold at the present townsite, which was then called Wheeler. When Frank Exum, who had recently opened a general store at his dugout-and-frame home applied for a post office and named it after himself, the Shamrock post office was closed, but the railroad named the stop Shamrock in 1903, and the Shamrock post office reopened.
In 1937 Shamrock band master Glenn Truax had the idea to host a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, capitalizing on the town’s Irish roots. Thousands flocked to that inaugural event along with a dozen bands.
In 2013, the Texas Legislature passed HCR 83, which designated the Shamrock St. Patrick's Celebration as the official St. Patrick's Day Celebration for the State of Texas. Today’s event brings up to 20,000 people to the town.
1936 Shamrock Conoco Gas Station
Possibly the biggest reason a lot of people visit Shamrock on their Route 66 adventure is the iconic 1936 Shamrock Conoco filling station. This beautiful art deco piece lined with green neon (it’s not really neon but don’t tell anyone) is now restored and houses both a small museum and the U-Drop-Inn cafe.
Apparently the station was the inspiration for Ramon’s Body Shop in the movie Cars.
It was quite a structure when originally built housing a gas station, repair shop and a small retail space.
U-Drop-Inn Café
We have visited this town numerous times and had heard that the U-Drop-Inn was open again and that the food was good, but every time we’ve visited it was outside the times that this eatery was open. This time we caught it on an open day.
In the past we’ve seen the cafe before the current operators had reopened the place and the booths and counter were all in place but dust had become the primary occupant. Now the place still has its iconic vintage-style booths but it’s spiffed up and serving diner food on a regular basis.
On the subject of those booths, reportedly the corner booth closest to the museum and gift shop is one where Elvis’ rear end touched the vinyl. There are several places on Route 66 where Elvis is reported to have stayed but there are photos and even memories of The King coming and grabbing a bite in the past. You can even plant your own hind end in the booth and get some of the cafe’s grub.
On the subject of that, the U-Drop-Inn serves what is best described as diner food and it’s a good example of such. But what’s even more stand-out are the sodas where the team behind he counter will mix-up daily special sodas.
We had the choice of a vanilla cream Dr. Pepper, cherry cream Coke or peach dream Sprite which is what I chose and really enjoyed. Apparently it’s got (drum roll please) peach syrup and cream mixed into a Sprite. I like these unusual sodas and mine was good.
