Fairmead, CA - Travelers passing through the Highway 99 corridor in Fairmead, CA for years would look forward to seeing the giant Mammoth Orange stand and its giant orange shell. However, those who wished to stop would have to be ready to quickly slow down as the entrance to the Mammoth Orange stand would come quickly and sometimes unexpectedly.
Mammoth Orange
Fairmead, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
There was a time when hungry travelers rolling along Highway 99 near Fairmead could pull over and order lunch from inside a giant orange. The Mammoth Orange was exactly what its name promised, a huge round roadside fruit with a service window cut into its side. No fancy sign was really needed. When the restaurant itself looks like an orange, the message is pretty clear.
Well, travelers no longer need to worry about the quick turn-off as a highway expansion project blocked the access to the Mammoth Orange, forcing the old roadside orange stand out of business in July 2007. This Mammoth Orange is one of just a few left of the once popular roadside joint.
Mammoth Orange close-up
Fairmead, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The stand was built in Chowchilla in 1947 and belonged to a small chain of giant orange-shaped juice stands created by Frank “Pops” Pohl. About 16 of these oversized fruits once appeared beside California highways, dispensing orange juice, hamburgers, and other road food to travelers. The Mammoth Orange moved to Fairmead in 1954 after a Highway 99 realignment, beginning a long second life near Avenue 22½.
For more than half a century, the big orange served as both a restaurant and a Highway 99 landmark. Travelers stopped for its “Alaska-sized” hamburgers, greasy fries, and thick orange shakes. Exactly what made a hamburger Alaska-sized is open to interpretation, but it probably was not something to order immediately before a long drive.
Mammoth Orange from Hwy 99
Fairmead, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Another giant orange, the Whoa Boy Orange, once operated across the highway. After that stand closed in the 1990s, the Mammoth Orange became the last operating giant orange along Highway 99. It managed to hang on until another highway project cut off access to the property in 2007.
Fortunately, the orange was not squeezed into oblivion. The City of Chowchilla purchased the structure for $5,000 and moved it into storage. There it sat for years, weathered and partly dismantled, with a family of foxes reportedly making a home inside. A giant roadside orange apparently makes a decent wildlife shelter when the hamburger window is closed.
The Mammoth Orange originally was situated along the Route 99 in Chowchilla when it first opened. In 1954, the stand was moved to Fairmead.
View from across the way
Fairmead, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Local volunteers and the Chowchilla Rotary Club eventually took on the restoration. The surviving upper portion was saved while the deteriorated lower section was rebuilt. The finished orange was moved to the Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County, just south of Chowchilla.
Its new home could hardly be more appropriate. The Mammoth Orange now stands near the site where a Columbian mammoth tusk was discovered in 1993. So visitors can see a mammoth from the Ice Age and a Mammoth Orange from the golden age of Highway 99, all in one stop.
Well, travelers no longer need to worry about the quick turn-off as a highway expansion project blocked the access to the Mammoth Orange, forcing the old roadside orange stand out of business in July 2007. This Mammoth Orange is one of just a few left of the once popular roadside joint.
Mammoth Orange in business
Fairmead, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
UPDATE: According to the ABC30 website, the City of Chowchilla has purchased the Mammoth Orange and moved the orange with the purpose of restoring the stand and reopening as a part of a historic heritage area in a new retail center. 11-07
UPDATE: The restored Mammoth Orange officially reopened at the Fossil Discovery Center in September 2023. It now serves as a historic attraction and occasional concession stand, once again giving travelers a chance to walk up to a giant orange beside Highway 99. After two moves, years in storage, and a brief career as a fox den, this roadside survivor is back where it belongs. 09-26
Mammoth Orange
Mammoth Orange close-up
Mammoth Orange from Hwy 99
View from across the way
Mammoth Orange in business
