The Original McDonald'sPosted by: 
Webfoot
N 34° 07.530 W 117° 17.665
11S E 472851 N 3776110
This is the spot of the original McDonald's restaurant, opened in 1948 by Dick and Maurice McDonald. The restaurant is no longer operational but houses a Route 66 museum with much McDonald's memorabilia.
Waymark Code: WM420D
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 06/25/2008
Views: 170
On May 15th, 1940, Richard and Maurice McDonald open their McDonald's Barbeque Restaurant, complete with carhops and a menu that included barbeque ribs and beef and pork sandwiches. Located on Route 66, their restaurant becomes the # 1 teen hangout in the San Bernardino area.
Eventually, the brothers realized that their hamburgers were making them far more money than all the other food items on the menu, so in October 1948, they shut down their restaurant, so they could retool it for more of an "assembly line" approach to making hamburgers.
On December 12, 1948, the restaurant reopened. Hamburgers were 15¢ and French fries were 10¢. In 1953, the original building was replaced with one that had a double set of golden arches.
The following year, Ray Kroc visited the brothers and convinced them to allow him to franchise the restaurants. Kroc was extremely successful with this venture and by 1961 was able to buy out the McDonald brothers to the tune of $2.7 million dollars. The brothers kept their original restaurant, but had to change the name to The Big M restaurant.
The following year, Ray Kroc opened a McDonald's just one block north of the Big M restaurant, which eventually forced the Big M out of business. The McDonald brothers sold the Big M property to Bakers Restaurant chain in 1968. The building was demolished in 1972 and rebuilt in 1974. Today, the building no longer serves hamburgers, but houses a Route 66 museum and contains many items of interest concerning the McDonald's restaurant chain.
The museum is open daily from 10 to 5 with no admission charge.
Americana: Restaurant
Significant Interest: Museum
Milestone or Marker: Other Icon
Web Site Address: [Web Link]
Address of Icon:
1398 North E Street,
San Bernardino, CA USA
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