The Missouri History Museum in St. Louis finished 2016 with its highest attendance in about 80 years, and a Route 66 exhibit is being partially credited for that. KSDK-TV in St. Louis reports the museum logged more than 500,000 visitors in the just-finished year. The station reported: "Most museums rely on one big exhibit, … Continue reading Missouri History Museum sees highest attendance since 1930s
Category: History
Visits with Lillian Redman at the Blue Swallow Motel
Anthony Reichardt recently uploaded several more videos from Route 66 trips he took in the early to mid-1990s in a 1959 Cadillac. The highlight video of this bunch is several visits with Lillian Redman, longtime owner of the iconic Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico. It's the most extensive video I've seen of her. https://youtu.be/TS9fp-Tndq0 Reichardt's … Continue reading Visits with Lillian Redman at the Blue Swallow Motel
New firearms store / gun range using pieces of Hawkins Mill
A new firearms store and gun range is being built along Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri, at the old Hawkins Mill site and using pieces of it in its design. Cherokee Firearms of Springfield is building a new facility at Kansas Expressway and College Street (aka Route 66). The new place's resemblance to the historic … Continue reading New firearms store / gun range using pieces of Hawkins Mill
Memories of Times Beach persist more than 30 years later
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently published a story about Marilyn Leistner, who was the last mayor of Times Beach, Missouri, before the Route 66 town was deserted for good in 1983 because of dioxin contamination. Road contractor Russell Bliss used dioxin-laced oil to spread on dirt roads throughout the town. When the Meramec River flooded, … Continue reading Memories of Times Beach persist more than 30 years later
Wall Street Journal produces short video on Route 66
Taking note of Route 66's 90th birthday, the Wall Street Journal a couple of days ago produced this video -- virtually all of it in California's Mojave Desert -- about America's most famous highway: At 4 1/2 minutes, it conveys the road's history and the challenges it faces quite well. (Video-capture excerpt from Wall Street … Continue reading Wall Street Journal produces short video on Route 66
Educators, Route 66 can use your help
Calling all educators who used Route 66 in their curriculum: The Route 66: The Road Ahead Initiative wants to hear from you. University of New Mexico professor and author David Dunaway is serving as chairman of the initiative's Research & Education Working Group. He recently put out a call for educators to share their materials … Continue reading Educators, Route 66 can use your help
Route 66 sculptures nearly done for Tulsa’s Howard Park
Utah sculptor Patrick Sullivan probably will finish his three Route 66 sculptures for Howard Park in Tulsa sometime next week. Tulsa World columnist John Klein recently talked to Sullivan, who patiently has wielded a hammer and chisel to create the images in Indiana limestone. Sullivan drove every inch of Route 66 in Tulsa County before beginning … Continue reading Route 66 sculptures nearly done for Tulsa’s Howard Park
Book review: “Route 66 Roadside Signs and Advertisements”
"Route 66 Roadside Signs and Advertisements" leaves little doubt it exists primarily as an image-driven book. After all, you have to show all these neon signs, banners and billboards that made an indelible impression on generations of Route 66 travelers and contributed to the road's colorful history. The book contains hundreds of photographs by Route 66 … Continue reading Book review: “Route 66 Roadside Signs and Advertisements”
Ash Fork’s little-known historical gem
Only one of two steel dams still exist in the United States, and one is less than a mile off an old alignment of Route 66 east of Ash Fork, Arizona. Known as the Bainbridge Steel Dam or the Ashfork-Bainbridge Steel Dam, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railway built the dam's parts offsite and shipped … Continue reading Ash Fork’s little-known historical gem
Exploring the ruins of Ella’s Frontier
Crowd-funded filmmaker Dan Bell recently explored the ruins of Ella's Frontier off old Route 66 near Joseph City, Arizona. He interspersed the film with footage from the 1980s shortly after the business closed with the owner's death in 1984. https://youtu.be/LDK24ux8xfE According to the GhostTownAZ website: The business was owned and operated by Ella Blackwell, who … Continue reading Exploring the ruins of Ella’s Frontier