SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Known as the birthplace of Route 66, Springfield celebrates big with car shows, music and more at the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival.

The weekend of the festival is one of the busiest times for the History Museum on the Square, where Route 66 enthusiasts venture to learn more about the Mother Road.

The museum has a temporary exhibit that looks at the iconic hotels and motels along the route, along with a permanent Route 66 Gallery that the museum says attracts travelers from all over and year-round.

The gallery features a 66-foot-long wall that details the timeline of the historic highway and key stops along the way, interactive elements like a working jukebox and Springfield area stories and artifacts.

"It's just been a wonderful way to travel," said John Sellars, Executive Director Emeritus at the History Museum on the Square. "And one that is iconic to the whole area from Chicago all the way to Los Angeles."

Route 66 crosses eight states, and was almost called Highway 60. But that number was already taken, and Highway 62 was offered, but John T. Woodruff and Cyrus Avery refused to be considered second best.

"It was catchy. It looked good on paper. They thought it was kind of exciting, had kind of a forward leaning look to it," Sellars said. "And so they sent a telegram from the Colonial Hotel on the 30th of April 1926 to Washington, D.C., saying that if the other people on the committee were agreeable, they wanted the number 66 for their highway. And so that that started it all."

Route 66 has been romanticized since its inception and the journey was part of the adventure. a much different way to travel compared to the interstates that replaced it around 1985. Communities lived and thrived based on their proximity to the Mother Road.

"Every little town had their own personal atmosphere and that was, that was part of it," said Sellars. "You saw what those little towns had to offer that was different than the next little town of the next little town of the next little town."

One of the big draws for Springfield in the heyday of Route 66 was Red's Giant Hamburg. The owner at the time, Sheldon "Red' Chaney had ordered a sign that was too tall to fit under the nearby utility lines. Adapting to the situation, Chaney cut off the "-er" portion of the sign, and the restaurant became an icon on the route for more than its name.

"He had a bay window on the side of the house, and he just opened that up for people to drive up there and order their food," Sellars said. "And Judy [his wife] would fix it real fast and you'd bring it to the window, and it was the first drive up window in the 40s."

Red's Giant Hamburg closed in 1984, but the restaurant has been recreated and opened in 2019, offering a Route 66 experience from decor to the menu.

Sellars said Route 66 comes back to life for the weekend in downtown Springfield during the festival, and you take a trip down the Mother Road without leaving Springfield at the History Museum on the Square.

News Source : https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/route-66-fest-a-busy-time-for-history-museum-on-the-square/