This year is the 100th anniversary of Route 66, and many communities along the Mother Road plan to mark the centennial through events, parties and other celebrations.
In Southeast Kansas, Baxter Springs celebrated the anniversary Thursday by releasing 100 lanterns into the sky.
Mary Billington is with the Kansas Route 66 Visitors Center and the Baxter Springs Heritage Center and Museum. She said the city expects a boost in its sales tax revenue due to increased tourism.
“With tourism, you depend on gas tanks, hotel stays, and restaurant usage. So all of these things impact (the community), and the more people we get to stop, the higher that impact is,” Billington said.
She said thanks to the highway's major milestone, the number of tourists in Baxter Springs is expected to triple compared to last year.
While the specific numbers are unknown, Billington knows it’s already busier than it was around the same time last year. She said she’s always looking for more volunteers to help with the uptick in visitors.
“We are desperately looking for more volunteers, because the more volunteers we have, the more hours we can have the visitors center open, the more people we can get to stop,” Billington said.
Kansas has the shortest stretch of Route 66 with 13.2 miles. There are three cities in Kansas along the original route, with Baxter Springs being one of them. But Billington said the highway still had a large impact on Baxter Springs over the years.
“When you've got a gas station every other block, and they're all doing well enough to support their families, and we're talking during the heyday of Route 66,” she said.
The visitors center for Baxter Springs is an old gas station that was used along historic Route 66. The main street, Military Avenue, has several Route 66 signs, with the original black and white coloring.
Baxter Springs also is one of three places along the eight-state highway that inspired Radiator Springs in the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars.”
Thursday's event featured a live band, cornhole and the release of 100 lanterns into the sky.
The event was at a local bar called Bricks and Brews. Tragic Prelude provided the music, standing on a stage in front of a mural showcasing where Route 66 was in Baxter Springs.
Baxter Springs Mayor Kelly Abbott said the feeling of Route 66 is still in the town.
“And so all these folks, especially the folks that travel from overseas to come see Route 66,” he said, “I think they're looking for that nostalgia and that old town.”
He said the city is working with a software company called Main Street America to determine the specific number of tourists that have visited Baxter Springs.
Galena resident Christy LaTurner was one of the event planning coordinators. She refers to Route 66 as “the Mother Road of the world” because of the travelers that visit every year.
“Route 66 will never not be important. And like this 100th celebration, it's reviving it and it's only going to get better from here,” LaTurner said. “It's only gotten more beautiful because we all geared up for the party.”
The national kickoff for Route 66’s centennial was Thursday in Springfield, Missouri. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe and NBC’s “The Today Show” visited the city for the celebration.
Springfield is considered the birthplace of Route 66. In 1926, Cyrus Avery — or the "father of Route 66" — sent a telegram from the Colonial Hotel in Springfield to Washington, D.C., asking to designate the Chicago-Santa Monica road as Route 66.
The road's heyday lasted until construction of the Interstate Highway System started in 1956. The last part of Route 66 was bypassed in 1984. Authorities designated portions of the road as a National Scenic Byway, or Historic Route 66, but tourism to small American towns ultimately died down.
KRPS Intern Luke Geier conducted interviews and gathered photos for this story.
Rachel Schnelle reports on Missouri and Kansas issues for KRPS.
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