Route 66 is such an integral part of the City of St. Louis and surrounding areas as lifestyles changed throughout the 20th Century. There are amazing remnants of the colorful bygone days of Route 66 around us. You just have to find them!
Amazingly, Route 66 seems to have moved around several times on its journey from Chicago, Illinois, out to Santa Monica, California. This somewhat explains why pieces of the historic route can be found at numerous disjointed locations throughout St.Louis and surrounding areas. It apparently, at one time or another, crossed the Mississippi River into St. Louis on the Chain of Rocks Bridge, the McKinley Bridge, the MacArthur Bridge (at the time called the Municipal Bridge), the Martin Luther King Bridge, and the Poplar Street Bridge.
There are numerous Route 66 historic sites that can still be found in the St. Louis area, many of which are located along Chippewa and Watson Roads and heading west generally along Interstate 44. However, there was also at one time an “alignment” of Route 66 that followed Old Manchester Road (Route 100) out of St. Louis City, through Maplewood, and all the way out to Gray Summit *.
We followed this segment of Route 66 along old Manchester Road heading out through Wildwood, Grover, and Pond, zigzagging in broken segments along the newer stretch of Route 100 – and that’s where we found this special site!
Big Chief Roadhouse has a celebrated history that dates back to 1929. With its Spanish-Mission style architecture, it originally consisted of a restaurant, gas station, and 62 cabins set around a beautiful park and courtyard. Until just a few years ago, there was also a huge Indian Tepee on site. The Big Chief Roadhouse on Route 66, was listed in tour guides from that earlier period, and was one of the largest tourist cottage courts in the state. It is now one of the very few intact full-service restaurants left on the historic Route 66 today.
Permission UPDATED 4/28/12: this location has a new owner - we spoke with him today and he approved continued placement of this cache at this historic site along Route 66 / Route 100 / old Manchester Road.
Additional information about Historic Route 66 in Missouri can be found on numerous websites. Just search for “Route 66 Missouri”.
* Reference: “The oldest Route 66 website: Where the Mother Road meets the Internet”
http://www.historic66.com/missouri/det-mo1.html
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