01
The Leaning Tower of Texas, installed as an attention-getting roadside landmark
Stop 5 of 13 · Carson County
Groom on Texas Route 66
One of the Texas route's most recognizable roadside-oddity stops, pairing the deliberately tilted Britten water tower with the enormous Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ complex.
Route order
#5
County
Carson County
Stop type
town
Why it belongs
The Route 66 story here
Groom sits directly on the historic Route 66 corridor east of Amarillo. Its old highway streetscape still carries motel, cafe and service-station remnants, while its two large roadside landmarks make it one of the easiest quick stops to recognize from I-40.
A complete Texas Route 66 road trip works because the famous landmarks are connected by places like this one. The route was a transportation system before it became a nostalgia trail: service stations, cafes, motels, bridges, commercial blocks, grain elevators and roadside advertising all developed around motorists moving across the Panhandle. Reading the communities in sequence gives the road more meaning than jumping directly from one photo stop to another.
On the ground
What to look for in Groom
02
Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ and its surrounding religious sculpture complex
03
Historic Route 66 frontage-road alignment and surviving roadside structures
Plan the stop
Before you pull off the highway
- The leaning water tower is an exterior roadside photo stop; pull fully off the travel lane in a safe legal area.
- The cross complex is a religious site as well as a tourist stop; visit respectfully and check current public-access information.
- Groom works well as a 30- to 60-minute stop between Alanreed and Conway.
Source desk
Verify the historic record and current access
TexasDefined uses preservation and transportation authorities for the historic corridor. Hours, business operations, construction, private-property access and road conditions can change after publication, so use these sources and current local information before departure.
Previous stop
← Alanreed
A small but evocative Route 66 community where surviving service-station architecture makes the old highway's roadside economy easy to see.
Next stop
Conway →
A small Route 66 community best understood through the historic roadway itself, including a National Register-listed segment running from SH 207 toward Interstate 40.