Carthage's Boots Court brings on new manager, new mission

John Hacker, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
Updated ·5 min read

Sep. 8—CARTHAGE, Mo. — The historic Boots Court Motel has a new manager and a new mission representing both historic routes at the "Crossroads of America."

Jeremy Morris, a self-professed "roadie" and Route 66 historian, took over in August as manager of the Boots Court from Kim Bausinger. Bausinger was the original manager when the Boots Court Foundation took over the Route 66 icon and began a total renovation in 2021.

Morris said managing the Boots is a dream job for him. He lives at Red Oak II, the small whimsical community built by the late Carthage artist Lowell Davis on Kafir Road between county roads 120 and 130 northeast of Carthage. He bought the parsonage, a home just behind the church in Red Oak II, and sells merchandise to tourists who stop by the little community on their travels on Route 66.

"I live on Route 66, I own a piece of it and I work on it now," Morris said. "So I really do Route 66 all day long. This is kind of my life."

Morris said the restoration of the Boots Court is finished, and all 13 rooms were opened earlier this year.

"The restoration phase on this side is done," Morris said. "Everything's open. It's all available to rent. You can book online. We get a lot of walk-ins just from motorists winging it on 66. We get a lot of people during the day; they call in because they didn't know how far they were going to get on the route. They say, 'We're in Springfield, we're heading your way, we think we'll make it.'"

Now the Boots Court Foundation, which owns the Boots Court and the property south of it to Olive Street, is working to convert the former gas station at the corner of Olive and Garrison Avenue into a visitors center and the office for the Boots Court.

The foundation has removed two homes that were located to the north and west of the filling station and is planning to create a park or green space and possibly some expanded parking in that area.

Representing the Jefferson

The Boots Court also has taken on a new mission representing the Jefferson Highway, the other highway that puts Carthage at the "Crossroads of America."

The Jefferson Highway Association announced last week in a Facebook post that the motel had become the inaugural Missouri member of the Jefferson Highway Historic Lodging Association.

"Though built in 1939 and a few years after the time of the named auto roads such as the Jefferson Highway, the historic motel property was built right at a crossroads point of Route 66 and U.S. 71 (formerly Jefferson Highway in Missouri) in Carthage," the association said. "Arthur Boots, who was once a machinery salesman, chose this spot after a great deal of research. His motel offered 'a radio in every room' and a covered carport for drivers stopping there at night. Its location at the 'crossroads of America' and its modern amenities made the motel a success. Today, a stay at the Boots Court is a special experience for travelers, with the radio still in every room and the great vintage décor."

The Jefferson Highway was a north-south route that ran from Winnipeg in Canada to New Orleans and existed roughly between 1916 and 1926 when the federal government started numbering highways and contributing to the maintenance of some highways.

The Jefferson Highway Association, led from 1916 to 1922 by a Carthage resident, James Clarkson, was a private group that designated the roads that would be named as part of the Jefferson Highway. Competition among communities to be located on the Jefferson Highway was fierce in the 1910s, and as part of a compromise, the group designated Jefferson Highway routes both in eastern Kansas and western Missouri between Kansas City and Joplin.

The eastern Kansas route went through Fort Scott and Pittsburg. The western Missouri route traveled through Lamar, Jasper and Carthage into Joplin, where the two routes merged and continued into Oklahoma.

The Jefferson Highway designation was abolished when the federal government started numbering highways, but the old Jefferson Highway, redesigned U.S. 71 in Missouri, and Route 66 crossed in Carthage, and both highways used Oak Street to continue west toward Joplin.

Route 66 centennial

Morris said the Boots is one of the "big five" historic motels left on Route 66 in Missouri and has been pictured in international books and brochures promoting Route 66 to tourists in Europe and other areas overseas.

"So there's the Wagon Wheel in Cuba, there's the Munger Moss in Lebanon, there's the Rail Haven in Springfield, the Rockwood in Springfield, and there's us," Morris said. "And 90% of our traffic is going west, but about 95% of our visitors are traveling Route 66. It's ramping up as we get to the centennial in 2026, which is the 100th anniversary of the road. What makes Route 66 great is that it's a do-it-yourself trip. There's no committees involved, there's no bureaucracies, there's no government involved."

Morris said the visitors center, when finished, will offer a variety of merchandise and memorabilia related to the Boots Court, Route 66 and the Jefferson Highway.

Among the most popular items selling now are replica keys from the two rooms in which actor Clark Gable stayed on his road trips across Route 66.

"We'll have T-shirts available and keychains," Morris said. "People want to buy the keychains from Clark Gable's rooms — 6 and 10. Those are both rooms Clark Gable stayed in. At the new visitors center, we're going to really to ramp up the merch."