The Rolla Chamber of Commerce presided last week over the ribbon-cutting and dedication of a new Route 66 Memorial at Buehler Park in Rolla, Missouri.
According to the chamber, the memorial was paid for with a grant from the Missouri Route 66 Centennial Commission. Aimee Campbell, the city’s tourism director, shepherded the project.
According to this history of Buehler Park, the site dates back to the Civil War as an encampment. The park itself goes back more than 100 years, and Route 66 ran along its southern border.
Residents in the late 1990s successfully fought off an attempt by the city to sell the park’s land to Cracker Barrel Restaurants. In 2005, a citizens group also fended off a bid to develop the land for a restaurant district.
Buehler Park is where Kingshighway (aka Route 66) and Highway 72 meet up on the city’s west side, near the Motor Mart.
(Image of the Route 66 Memorial at Buehler Park in Rolla, Missouri, by the Rolla Chamber of Commerce)