A mural titled “Route 66 Tri-State Corridor” that shows 25 landmarks along the Mother Road in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma will be unveiled at 1:30 p.m. today in Joplin, Missouri.
The Joplin Globe reported the artwork has been installed at Route 66 Mural Park, at 619 S. Main St. (aka Route 66) on the south side of the former Pearl Brothers Hardware building. That’s where the famous three-dimensional Corvette mural is, as well.
Andy Thomas of the Route 66 town of Carthage, Missouri, designed the mural. It was donor-funded and will be gifted to the city.
Communities to be represented are Carthage, Carterville and Webb City in Missouri; Galena, Riverton and Baxter Springs in Kansas; and Quapaw, Commerce, Miami and Afton in Northeast Oklahoma, along with the Quapaw, Ottawa, Peoria and Miami tribes. […]
Landmarks depicted include buildings such as the Carthage courthouse and Miami’s Coleman Theatre; staples such as the Old Riverton Store, which just turned 100 years old; and Carterville’s Supertam on 66. Additional attractions included in the mural are the “Cars on the Route” in Galena and the 66 Drive-in, west of Carthage.
Additional notable features of the mural include representation of of the historic shootout of outlaws Bonnie and Clyde and their gang, who killed two lawmen as they shot their way out of a hideout in a south Joplin garage apartment April 13, 1933, to escape capture. Also depicted is Grand Falls, the region’s Native American culture and “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Joplin Mayor Keenan Cortez will be joined by other mayors and tribal leaders along the highway.
No full image of the mural has shown up on social media, but the Route 66 Joplin account posted this sneak preview:
UPDATE: Here’s a story with a photo of the entire mural.