HISTORIC BIG CHIEF ROADHOUSE
BigChiefSTL.com
Built in 1928-1929, Big Chief Roadhouse in Wildwood served transcontinental travelers on the now-famed Route 66. As one of Missouri's largest tourist cottage courts, it differed due to offering relatively elaborate dining. After Route 66, originally running right past it, was rerouted in 1932, it closed in 1949. It reopened in 1990s. During 2011, current owner Stephanie Mulholland made it a popular, full-service restaurant along Old Route 66, one of Mother Road's last remaining, now with a Speakeasy.
ROUTE 66 STATE PARK VISITOR CENTER/MUSEUM
MoStateParks.com/Park/Route-66-State-Park
The official Route 66 Visitor Center/Museum is just outside of Eureka. Sample slices of 'America's Main Street' via a most diversified collection of pictures, details and artifacts regarding what the region looked like when the Route 66 local leg was in its heyday during the 1930s-1960s. The free visitor center is the former Bridgehead Inn, a 1935 roadhouse on the original Route 66. It now includes an on-site souvenirs shop. Jonah Coakley, Route 66 State Park assistant superintendent, says guests from every state, plus Asia, Africa, South America, Europe and Australia visited this year.
VICTORIAN LYCEUM BUILDING
ManchesterMo.gov/265/Manchester-Arts
Manchester Road/Missouri State Route 100 lied on the pioneering 1926-1932 US Highway 66 alignment, until the route was shifted to Watson Road. Manchester's Old City Hall Building erected in 1894 was directly off Route 66, remaining today to admire as an arts hub/gallery/center; so does a few, other irrestible St. Louis '66-icons' such as Carl's Drive-In, Hi-Pointe Theatre, Donut Drive-In, Ted Drewes and National Museum of Transportation.
In 1922, US 66 was originally Route 14, connecting St. Louis/Joplin. The ultimate Route 66 highway covered 2,448 miles, from Chicago through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, terminating in Santa Monica, Calif.