When I first moved to Amarillo (somewhere in the early 2000s) I was told that Sixth Street was the spot to be.

Heck yeah, I said. I was curious about my new town and if a local said it was a good place to check out, then by golly it's the place I'll go check out.

So, he and I trekked over to that part of town. As soon as we turned left at 6th and McMasters.....well, my buddy had a good long laugh at my expense when he saw the look of utter dismay on my face.

Back then, Sixth Street was definitely not the spot to be, that was for sure. I do remember that I could tell it used to be a hip strip at one point of time. But at that first viewing of the original Mother Road of Route 66 in Amarillo.....I cannot stress enough how much it was not pretty.

Trust me when I say that calling it 'rundown' was being nice. The few shops that seemed worth checking out had some alarmingly aggressive panhandlers loitering near the front doors and harassing whomever came within earshot.

Needless to say, I steered clear of Sixth for a good chunk of time.

You can imagine my surprise when it became apparent that Sixth Street had started getting its act together. For me, the 806 Coffee Shop kickstarted the whole revitalization movement when it set up shop right down from The Nat in 2007.

Speaking of 2007, can you remember what Sixth Street looked like at that point of time? Even if you're old enough that you should remember, you might be a little surprised at just how much it's changed.

To prove my point, I scrolled through the history archives of Google Maps and dug up a nice little collection of "Then vs. Now" photos. Take a gander at how far our little "Kicks on Route 66" strip of Sixth has come in just a little over a decade.

Sixth Street Over The Years - WOW! What A Change!

Sixth Street in Amarillo looked incredibly different not too long ago. Have you forgotten what it looked like in 2007? Buckle up, the ride is incredible.

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