Page "Matador, Texas" Paragraph 16

Robertson died in 1947, two weeks before a high wind toppled the steel derrick that had been his trademark.

His widow, the former Olga Cunningham ( 1904 – 1993 ), restored it in 1949 with even more prominent lights.

Ultimately, the business failed, and attempts by other to revive it were short-lived.

At the intersection of U. S. Route 70 and Texas State Highway 70, the site serves as a reminder of a time when bold roadside architecture was only beginning and of a man who promoted his adopted hometown in extraordinary ways.