The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will meet in Jefferson City on July 15 to consider whether to nominate the Route 66 landmark Boots Court motel of Carthage, Missouri, to the National Register of Historic Places.
Also to be considered will be the East Town neighborhood of Joplin, Missouri, which is bounded by an early alignment of Route 66, reported the Joplin Globe.
If the council approves those properties, their inclusion to the National Register is almost assured.
The motel was built in 1939 by Arthur Boots at “the crossroads of America,” as it was billed at the time, when the intersection of Central and Garrison in Carthage was also the intersection of routes 66 and 71, two major highways in 1940’s America.
The Boots featured covered carports and a radio in every room.
Actor Clark Gable stayed at the Boots Court several times during cross-country trips from his native Ohio. He rested his head in Room No. 6.
Gary Daggett of the Texas Old Route 66 Association claimed to the newspaper the Boots Court was the second-oldest motel still in operation on Route 66.
The Carthage-based Boots Court Foundation, which took over ownership of the motel last fall, is in the middle of extensive renovations of the property. It hopes to reopen it to the public in October for the city’s annual Maple Leaf Festival.
Some readers probably wonder what took so long for the Boots Court to land a National Register nomination. One thing holding it back was one of its longtime owners installed a gabled roof on the structure many years ago, significantly changing its appearance and hurting its eligibility. That roof was removed only in the last decade.
More about the East Town Historic District in Joplin:
What makes the East Town neighborhood historically significant is the rich cultural story of Black people in Joplin, residents were told last month at a meeting about its nomination as a historical district.
Despite periodic racial flareups, including the most notable, a 1903 lynching and a white effort to expel Black residents, a large part of Joplin’s Black community remained a steadfast presence in the city. […]
“It is the original part of Joplin, but it also is an African American enclave,” Krupp said. While Black residents moved into different sections of town over history, some remained and others returned to East Town, providing a constant presence there.”
(Image of the Boots Court motel in Carthage, Missouri, in 2018 by Adam Jones via Flickr)