The Glass House: First Restaurant Over a US Highway

The arched structure spanning the Will Rogers Turnpike near Vinita, Oklahoma holds an engineering first: it was the first restaurant ever built over a United States public highway. Commissioned by Conoco and opened in nineteen fifty-seven and early nineteen fifty-eight, the original Glass House stretched over the turnpike's full width with a cafeteria, snack bar, sit-down dining, and gas stations on both sides, so motorists could eat while watching cars pass underneath their feet. For decades it housed the world's largest McDonald's, more than twenty thousand square feet, until larger locations elsewhere took the title.

The structure was renamed the Will Rogers Archway in August twenty fourteen, honoring the Cherokee cowboy philosopher who was born near Oologah, not far from here. A full renovation was completed that same December.