The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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May 6, 2006

Route 66 now Missouri scenic byway

By Susan Redden

Globe Staff Writer

It's "The Mother Road," "America's Main Street," the place to "get your kicks."

But Route 66 is also a magnet and Jasper County officials are looking at more ways to capitalize on interest in the historic highway.

"It's incredible. Lately we've had visitors in the museum from China and Japan who came to the area after seeing the old 'Route 66' television show," said Brad Belk, curator of the Joplin Museum Complex.

Route 66 brings visitors to Carthage on a weekly basis, said Aimee Smith, director of the Carthage Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"It's amazing how far people will come to see it," Smith agreed.

"We have people in here every week asking for information on Route 66 and points on it, such as The Boots Motel and 66 Drive-In Theatre. Getting the area onto the scenic byways program will only raise that profile," she said.

Jasper County signed up for the scenic byways program last year and Chuck Surface, presiding county commissioner, and Belk were among local residents who attended ceremonies Friday in Springfield designating Route 66 a state scenic byway.

The county also is seeking a federal grant to create a Route 66 museum in the county courthouse, Surface said.

Route 66 will get even more attention later this year when Ozarks Public Television releases a documentary on the Missouri sections of the famed road.

Jasper County agreed to join the scenic byways program last year in meetings with the Missouri Department of Transportation, Surface said. Covering more than 300 miles from the Illinois line to the Kansas line, the Historic Route 66 byway will be the longest scenic byway. The route will be marked with blue-and-white signs that read Historic Byway, Missouri U.S. 66. The signs are to be in place in Jasper County early next spring, Surface said.

Belk has agreed to serve as the curator if the county gets federal funds for a Route 66 museum in the courthouse, Surface said. The county is trying to develop the project to help promote local tourism, he said.

"We talk to people all the time who have come to the courthouse to see the mural and the history we have there," he said. "A lot of them say they've come to Carthage on Route 66, and the courthouse has nothing specifically related to Route 66 in it. If it did, we think it would attract even more visitors."

Discussions are under way on items that could be featured in the display, Belk said.

"At minimum, we'd be talking about photographs of current and past Route 66 landmarks in Jasper County," he said.

Belk is a participant in the Route 66 documentary that will air this fall. Local filming, Belk said, has included the Carthage courthouse, the Boots Motel and local residents such as Bunny Newton in Joplin; Terry James, in Webb City; and Dick Ferguson and Mark Goodman, in Carthage. Goodman and his family restored the 66 Drive-In Theater west of Carthage.

"We get lots of local families, but we also get people who drive the route if they're stopping in the area on the weekend," he said. "And not a day goes by that I can't go down in front and find someone taking pictures, because they know we're the last original 66 drive-in."

About 55 half-hour segments have been recorded that are now being distilled into a program to air in September, said Tom Carter, broadcast manager with Ozarks Public Television. The program will include the history of the road, a road trip from St. Louis to Joplin, and a focus on preservation and the continued interest in the road, he said.

Magical

"There's something magical about that highway. It's different things for different people, but it resonates and crosses borders and cultures."

Source: Tom Carter, broadcast manager, Ozarks Public Television

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