The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Carthage, Jasper County

Related Photos

Discussion

February 18, 2009

Boots Drive-In featured in new Route 66 exhibit

By Susan Redden

sredden@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The curved front of the former Boots Drive-In will be repeated in a Route 66 display at the Jasper County Courthouse.

A replica of the building front is just starting to take shape at a workshop in Carthage. When finished, it will occupy space in the main floor of the historic courthouse and serve as a display case for artifacts from the Mother Road, according to Chris Wiseman, curator of collections at the Joplin Museum Complex.

Wiseman and Brad Belk, museum director, developed the project under a contract with the county. Wiseman is the designer and builder of the display, to be financed by a federal transportation grant.

The design selected was one of three considered by the County Commission, with help from the courthouse historic preservation committee.

“That’s the design that everyone liked, because the history of the Boots Drive-In goes along with the history of Route 66,” said Jim Honey, Eastern District county commissioner.

The former drive-in now houses a savings and loan, and is across the street from the historic Boots Motel, a famous Route 66 landmark.

The display case will be 18 feet wide and 13 feet tall. The exhibit will include full-size artifacts, including a gasoline pump and an air pump, Wiseman said, and part of a vintage car will form a couch to face a flat-screen television that will show slides of Route 66 history.

The main colors of the display will be red and white, based on colors of the drive-in during its heyday. The display will accommodate Route 66 artifacts to be purchased for the project and perhaps some donated by local residents.

“We’ve already had people contact us,” Wiseman said.

Wiseman said the curved front of the display case is made with wood laminates, so that it will be sturdy but light. He said it is being built in modular pieces so it can be “assembled like a piece of furniture.”

“It will hang on the wall, but if they ever decide they want to move it, it won’t leave a big impact,” he said. “All they’ll have to do is fill in four nail holes, and paint.”

Actual work on the project started in mid-January, and Wiseman said he hopes to be done by the end of summer. He said he’s spending two and a half days each week on the project.

The biggest challenges, he said, have been converting his ideas to a design and adapting the project to meet requirements of the Missouri Department Transportation, which is administering the state grant.

“They’ve been great to work with, but they’re more used to building roads and bridges,” he said.





Courthouse display



The display will occupy space at the south end of the courthouse lobby, just across from the elevator.

Text Only
Carthage, Jasper County
  • Jim-Spradling-obit.jpg Carthage attorney, reformer of revenue department, dies

    James R. Spradling, a Carthage attorney who was noted for his reform of the Missouri Department of Revenue in the 1970s, died at 5:50 a.m. Monday at McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital.

    August 9, 2010 1 Photo

  • Steadley trust planning session attracts 40-plus Carthage leaders

    Carthage officials and representatives of organizations in the community gathered Friday to start a process aimed at identifying future needs that can be addressed by funding from the Steadley Memorial Trust. Discussions were led by Ralph Ochsner, a Kansas City-based consultant hired by Steadley directors to oversee the effort.

    October 26, 2012

  • Bondswoman charged with false imprisonment

    A bail bondswoman from Carthage is facing a charge of false imprisonment for allegedly attempting to put a man in jail without a judge’s order, then taking him home and handcuffing him to the banister of a staircase until a friend of the man paid her his bond money.

    January 4, 2012

  • Man’s last statement to be given to defendant

    A judge ruled Monday that the Jasper County prosecutor must provide attorneys for Darren J. Winans with a videotaped statement co-defendant Matthew D. Laurin made about the Sheldon murders shortly before killing himself.

    August 23, 2010

  • Carthage proposes 1.6-cent rise in city property tax

    A drop in the assessed value of Carthage real estate will translate to an increase of about 1.6 cents in the city’s proposed property tax rate.

    August 9, 2010

  • Open house to celebrate projects at courthouse

    Projects completed last year at the Jasper County Courthouse will be celebrated in ceremonies Thursday in the courthouse lobby.
    County officials will join representatives of local chambers of commerce and others for a ribbon-cutting and open house to mark the opening of a Route 66 display in the lobby and a new “peace star” atop the building.

    May 9, 2010

  • Newton County Jail State budget cuts reduce county funds

    County officials are bracing for more state budget cuts to translate into a loss of county revenues.
    In an effort to balance Missouri’s budget, the state earlier this year cut the amount it reimburses county assessors for work to determine property values. The budget approved by lawmakers for fiscal 2011 calls for cutting the amount the state reimburses counties to house prisoners bound for state lockup.

    May 9, 2010 1 Photo

  • Jo Ellis: County home to rare yellowwood tree

    In late spring, drifts as white as snow fill the gutters and curbs on the east side of the Jasper County Courthouse. It isn’t snow, of course; it’s the fallen petals of the yellowwood tree that grows squarely in front of the door to the Jasper County Extension office.

    May 9, 2010

  • Jasper County Commission gets building project update

    Plans to close out one building project and start another were reviewed by the Jasper County Commission last week.
    Darieus Adams, Western District associate commissioner, met Thursday with officials of the firm who designed a $292,400 project to upgrade the lighting and make other changes to make four county-owned buildings more energy efficient.

    May 8, 2010

  • Two men running for associate judge in 39th Circuit take case to court

    Two men running for associate judge in Missouri’s 39th Circuit began battling it out in a Jasper County courtroom this week.
    Jasper County Circuit Judge Gayle Crane heard arguments Wednesday concerning the disclosure of documents sought by Robert “Bobby” George, Aurora, the current Lawrence County prosecutor.

    May 7, 2010