From the geological wonders of the Huachuca Mountains to the Spanish expedition celebrated at Coronado National Memorial, Sierra Vista offers access to plenty of natural and human history. Half a century ago this month, this growing city along Arizona’s border with Mexico made history again — with a concept that hungry commuters, frazzled parents and millions of other Americans take for granted today.
Fast food restaurants have been a part of American culture since 1921, when White Castle opened its first permanent locations in Kansas. As automobile use increased, many chains incorporated drive-thru windows into their operations, but for decades, there was one major exception. By the mid-1970s, McDonald’s, founded in California in 1940, had opened some 3,000 restaurants, including locations in Japan, Germany and other countries. But none had a drive-thru.
Facing pressure from rival chains, the company decided to test the concept by adding a drive-thru window to a McDonald’s in Oklahoma City in 1974, but a remodel of the building put those plans on hold. David Rich, the licensee of the Sierra Vista McDonald’s, heard about the project and saw an opportunity. Much of Rich’s business came from the U.S. Army’s nearby Fort Huachuca installation, and at the time, soldiers were prohibited from leaving their vehicles while off base and in uniform.
Rich quickly installed a rudimentary sliding window at the restaurant, enabling soldiers and other customers to order and pick up their food without leaving their cars. The drive-thru opened on January 24, 1975, and quickly increased business. Other locations followed suit, and like ripples in a vat of fry oil, the idea spread across the country. By the end of the ’70s, there were nearly 5,000 McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S., and more than half had drive-thru windows, often with a statue of Ronald McDonald directing drivers to a menu board and speaker where they could place their orders.
Despite its groundbreaking history, the restaurant lacked the staying power of the Big Mac and the Egg McMuffin — in 1999, it was torn down and replaced with a more modern McDonald’s. But reminders of Sierra Vista’s place in fast food history still exist for those who know where to look. The drive-thru window was salvaged and now resides at the city’s Henry F. Hauser Museum. And in 2014, the Sierra Vista Historical Society installed a plaque at the restaurant, now one of two McDonald’s in town. It’s located, appropriately enough, at 1802 E. Fry Boulevard.