National Trust launches 'Preserve Route 66: Share Your Story' campaign

Jan. 18—Online The website for the project, https://savingplaces.org/your-route66-story, already includes stories about area locations such as Bernie's Bar and Grill in Avilla and the Spencer Station in Lawrence County. The website includes a link to a form to submit a photo and a short story about the place to include on the map. "We invite you — community members, travelers, historians and enthusiasts — to share your stories and photos about Route 66," the website says. "Whether it's a quirky roadside attraction, a treasured business, a piece of family history or a personal memory, every contribution helps piece together a more complete picture of Route 66's history." {related_content_uuid}76f47b99-d418-4267-95eb-7b79d2225198{/related_content_uuid}

Historians are looking for new ways to bring attention to endangered sites on Route 66 as its 100th birthday approaches.

This month, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is launching the "Preserve Route 66: Share Your Story" campaign, an effort to collect stories about the highway dubbed the Mother Road and the Main Street of America.

The campaign aims to gather 2,026 public story submissions in time for Route 66's centennial in 2026. The stories will then be used to develop an interactive online map that highlights quirky roadside attractions, small businesses, family histories and personal memories that collectively help tell a more complete story of Route 66.

"The National Trust has been very interested in Route 66 for a while," said Amy Webb, senior director of preservation programs with the group. "Beginning back in 2017 we've had a campaign to really push for Route 66 to become a National Historic Trail. In the past couple of years with the centennial of Route 66 coming up in 2026, we really want to look at some other ways to help draw attention to sites on Route 66 and to help ensure their preservation as Route 66 goes into its next century."

Webb said the National Trust wants to hear about the famous places on Route 66, like the Chain of Rocks Bridge and Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St. Louis, and the drive-in theater in Carthage. But not just famous places.

"We're especially interested in hearing about the lesser-known sites on Route 66," Webb said. "Maybe there's a gas station that was once part of Route 66 and now vacant and awaiting some kind of new use. We're just really interested in finding out stories about some of those places with the hopes that by drawing attention to them we can help find some kind of revitalized use and role in the Route 66 of the future."

Locations in Jasper County that could be candidates for the project include the "Whee" bridge or the old DeSoto car dealership building, both on Oak Street in Carthage, or the former Dale's Route 66 Barber Shop, 2316 Utica St. in Joplin, a former gas station built in 1929 and converted to a barbershop in 1962 by Dale Holly, who operated it until he retired in 2012.

"The most important thing is to make sure those places are known," Webb said. "In our website, we have a submission form where people can submit a photo and a very short description of places that mean something to them on Route 66. That's going to be one of the first ways that we are going to try to get those sites on our radar screen. We'll be sharing those stories back out via our website and also working on a larger interactive GIS map so that ultimately people will be able to search this and find out about these places, especially those kinds of hidden places that are opportunities."

Patrick Tuttle, director of the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the Joplin Celebrations Commission also will meet in February to ramp up the local celebration of Route 66's centennial.

That group is also looking at ways to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States in that same year as well as other events.

Tuttle said the Route 66 celebration might include a project to collect stories about Route 66 locations in and around Joplin.

"We're reconvening the Joplin Celebrations Commission that we have that did the Missouri bicentennial and Joplin's 150th birthday, and that may be something they talk about taking on," Tuttle said. "We've got some ideas. We just need to start acting on it. The Route 66 Centennial Commission will start again the first Tuesday of February. We've been off for two months following the end of Joplin's sesquicentennial, so once we reconvene, we'll start talking about different things. We're also dealing with the USA 250, the World Cup will be in Kansas City in June and July, and the Jefferson Highway, which runs through Joplin, turns 110. So we'll have a busy 2026 to plan for."

Webb said the end goal of the Preserve Route 66 project is to create an interactive online site to help Route 66 travelers.

"The message to the public is really tell us your stories about Route 66. We want to know what places are special to you and why."