MOJAVE DESERT HERITAGE & CULTURAL ASSOCIATION

Women of Route 66

Lucy Venus McNeill, lived in Ludlow during two phases of her life; as a teenager, newlywed, and new mother, and then later in her middle years after remarrying. She was born in 1894 in Kansas. Her given name was Lucy Venus, but everyone knew her as Venus. Her father worked for the Santa Fe. The railroad provided the McNeill family with a box car as their living quarters. This is the story of one particular woman who lived along Route 66 in Ludlow in the Mojave Desert of California.

Lucy Venus McNeill

Venus at age 20

Moved Oasis Hotel

Pendergast Motel in Ludlow


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