Iconic hamburger stop on California highway is coming back. What are long-term plans?

Mammoth Orange, the iconic roadside attraction and Highway 99 burger stop, is back.

For decades, the giant orange-shaped burger stand and accompanying billboard sign sat just off the 99 north of Fresno and served as a glimpse into the history of the highway and the region. It officially closed in 2007, when a state reconstruction project cut off access from the highway.

It reopens at its new home at the Fossil Discovery Center in Chowchilla on Saturday with a ribbon-cutting and fundraiser.

The structure — a 10-foot-tall orange made of aluminum, stucco and wood — has been fully restored and will serve as a concession stand for the museum, which is the site of one of the largest middle-Pleistocene fossil excavations in North America.

It’s also where an eight-foot mammoth tusk was found in 1993, so the the pairing is apt.

The event runs 6-8 p.m. Tickets are $25 for museum members ($30 for non-members) and includes a “mammoth smash burger meal.”

Mammoth Orange and fruit-shaped restaurants

Originally opened in 1947, Mammoth Orange was part of a chain of fruit-shaped restaurants that once lined freeway across California. It was the largest of 100 and the last one operating on Highway 99, according to the Historical Marker Database.

From the beginning, the business seemed at the whim of the roadway. It was moved from its original spot near Robertson Boulevard in 1954 to make way for the new Highway 99 and fell victim to the changing habits of travelers.

Doris Stiggins and her husband bought the burger stand in the 1980s and continued its menu of “Alaska-sized” burgers, “Texas-sized” fries and signature orange milkshakes. That food and Mammoth’s general ambiance was talked about with a kind nostalgic reverence, even as the restaurant lost some of its gleam in the late ’90s.

It was “hip in a down-home, low-rent sort of way,” as Fresno Bee writer George Hostetter phrased it in a 1997 story.

“To sit on one of Stiggin’s picnic benches — with an orange milk shake (the house specialty) in hand — and watch the traffic roar by only a few yards away is to see the San Joaquin Valley at its romantic best.

“High energy. Incessant noise. A sense of adventure amid an ever-changing sea of faces.

“It’s an intoxicating image.”

“A beloved part of our community”

Over the years, there were several attempts to keep Mammoth Orange alive in some fashion. There was talk about possibly converting the stand into a grocery store, and someone offered $1,000 to take the stand and use it to sell orange juice and fruit next an existing vegetable stand on Avenue 9.

For a time, the building was owned by Madera’s redevelopment agency, which wanted to restore it as a local landmark.

In 2002, then-Rep. George Radanovich backed a proposal to carve out state money to move the burger stand to the yet-to-be built Fossil Center.

Those plans fell through, but the center was able to buy Mammoth Orange in 2012. It has had plans to reopen the building on site since 2018 at least.

“This iconic landmark is a beloved part of our community,” Fossil Discovery Center director Michele Pecina said in a news release. “We are excited to share it with a new generation of visitors. The Mammoth Orange is a great example of how history creates unique and memorable experiences.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 5:30 AM.