Route 66 is one of the most famous roads in America. It was the primary route for westward migration especially out of the dust bowl in the 1930s. Route 66 was immortalized in the John Steinbeck novel Grapes of Wrath. It also figures prominently in popular culture all the way from the 1946 hit song Get Your Kicks on Route 66 to the Disney/Pixar Cars films. (paraphased from wikipedia).
This old map was a place for people to sign in at an old cafe. Route 66 just barely cut through the corner of Kansas.
The original Route 66 ran from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California and was 2,448 miles long. The original Route 66 was officially and completely retired in 1985 as it had been replaced by the US Interstate highway system. (more wikipedia facts)
A short distance off the old Kansas Route 66, there is a plaque marking the "Three State Corner".
A new monument was put up in 2004.
The original monument put up by the National Youth Adminstration in 1938 is still standing. The NYA was part of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) established by FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt) during the New Deal. A lot of history packed in that sentence 🤣 look it up here if you are interested https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Administration
Back to Route 66, lots of signs in local businesses or attractions signed by visitors.
Faded signs for Buck's Recreation. Pepsi and Mountain Dew ads.
Not sure what Buck's was but its long gone.
Get some water now. 700 miles of desert ahead 😅
Some of the old signs have been kept up or more likely re-done.
We were in Galena, Kansas for most of these photos.
Here's an old Texaco gas station that has been restored.
And a Kan-O-Tex gas station. Kan-O-Tex was a local refinery that marketed gasoline in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Back before Big Oil pushed out all the regional oil companies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanotex_Refining_Company
For every business that was restored and kept up, there were a few that are just memories like Palace Drug Store.
Stuckey's should probably be a memory 🤣 but they are hanging around.
https://stuckeys.com/letter-from-our-ceo/history/ They were a fixture on America's highways starting in 1937.
Stuckey's pecan rolls were famous. I found a Stuckey's in Missouri and...
had a pecan roll. Just as bad as I remembered. But I forced my son to try one. He will probably force one of his kids to try one someday lol
Speaking of Missouri we got off the interstate looking for a trailhead in the Mark Twain National Forest. We ended up driving along a long forgotten stretch of Route 66. The Gascozark Cafe was established in 1934 and has been out of business for quite awhile.
Gascozark Store still opens once a week on Saturdays as an Flea Market with antiques and collectibles. Gascozark was named by Frank Jones, owner of the cafe, it combined both name, that of the "Gasconade River" and the "Ozarks" region. https://www.theroute-66.com/gascozark.html
Ok now for the real reason for my detour. I wanted to go to Riverton, Kansas home of the Spring River Inn.
http://route66times.com/l/ks/riverton-spring-riverInn-signs.htm This is not my picture. Unfortunately even the sign is gone. The restaurant burned down in 1998. It was a private home turned into a restaurant with a 35 ft buffet. The Spring River Inn was famous for home cooked food and we always got a huge pull-apart cinnamon roll when we left to take home. It operated from 1954 to 1996. I remember going there as a kid for special occasions or anytime we were nearby.
Here is the pillar that used to support the sign. The neon sign was removed in 2013 for restoration but hasn't been returned yet.
Ok thats it for my summer roadtrip along Route 66 or at least the 13 miles that snuck through the southeast corner of Kansas 😁
