Tri-County Truck Stop soon will reopen as an auction house

Diamonds Trading Post

The long-closed Tri-County Truck Stop, aka The Diamonds, along Route 66 in Villa Ridge, Missouri, soon will reopen as The Diamond’s Trading Post that will host auctions twice a month.

The truck stop, which closed in 2006, is slated to reopen Oct. 2. Naturally, the auction house will have a Route 66 theme.

A recent photo above shows the long-broken windows being covered in a way that conforms to the building’s architecture. Here’s what the truck stop looked like during its heyday:

Mindy Schoenman of Sincerely, Me LLC, who is handling media relations for the facility, clarified a few things via email:

Work is ongoing, but we plan to have electricity, air conditioning, and bathrooms going before our first auction on October 2nd. […] We will hold auctions twice a month — the first and third Friday of every month, at 6 p.m.

We plan to have a video walk-through of the building available for viewing as well closer to our first auction. […]

We have named it The Diamond’s Trading Post as a way to honor the original name of the building, The Diamonds Cafe. We plan to have a Route 66 theme throughout, and we hope to engage past customers to share their stories. While we were cleaning up the outside of the building, a gentlemen pulled into the parking lot with tears in his eyes because he was fearful that the building was going to be demolished. He shared his story of eating breakfast every day for decades there with his wife, who is no longer living. This building holds a lot of memories for a lot of people. We’re so excited to bring it back to life and give the public access.

The truck stop long was notorious of some sort of ghost or paranormal activity there. However, Schoenman says the people fixing up the building have encountered nothing unusual so far.

Schoenman promises more photos of the inside of the building when the reopening date is closer.

Spencer Goff opened The Diamonds in 1927, about the same time Route 66 opened in the area. The restaurant burned down in 1948, and the Diamonds was rebuilt into the sleek, ultramodern building that stands today. It became the Tri-County Truck Stop in 1971.

(Image of The Diamond’s Trading Post via Facebook)

5 thoughts on “Tri-County Truck Stop soon will reopen as an auction house

  1. It’s a good thing I took pix of the diamonds when I did. There was a lot of construction going on on the highway at the time and I thought they’d get some of that business. But I guess not. Motorists are fickle nowadays

  2. My first visit to the Diamonds was in 1949 with 8th Grade boys from all the Catholic Schools in St. Louis going to Jefferson City for an outing at the LaSallet Seminary. I am now 79. I will always remember that and other great times at the Diamonds. Especially after night out with friends and the Friday night Fish Buffets.

  3. Kasalou Bennett: We lived a few miles down the road and after church at St Mary’s we would sometimes eat breakfast there. Always bought a souvenir.

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