Michele Skalicky talks with John Sellars, executive director emeritus of the History Museum on the Square about how Springfield became the Birthplace of Route 66.
As Springfield prepares to host the national Route 66 centennial kickoff, it's important to remember why the city is known as the birthplace of the Mother Road. And who better to talk about this than John Sellers with the History Museum on the Square? Good morning, John.
Sellars: Good morning.
John, I understand Route 66 was not the original name that was suggested for the highway that connected Los Angeles to Chicago. Tell me more about that.
Sellars: Whenever they began to number all the highways, their thought process in this was that the major east west thoroughfares would be ending in zero and then the others between them would have declining or increasing numbers as you went north or south. Then the north south highways, the most important ones would end in five. So, when they were awarded 60, they were very, very pleased about that. They thought that was a wonderful deal. They quickly got out and printed maps with the number 60 on them showing that this was Highway 60. Well, as that was progressing, the governor of another state nearby came to the realization that they didn't have a major highway through their state. So, he saw that the highway ran from Chicago to the West Coast, and he went to Washington, D.C. and said, 'these highways that end in zero should all be transcontinental. They should go from the eastern seaboard to the west.' And he convinced them in Congress and in Washington that that was as it should be. And so, the number 60 was taken away from this highway and awarded to another road that started in Virginia and came all the way across, which is highway 60. And so, when they took the 60 away from the highway here, they offered them in return the number 62. Well, that didn't sit well at all. 62. Second best. Number two. We're not having any of that. That's just not going to work for us. So, they said, 'well, we're going to have to think about this for a while. We'll get back to you.' And so that's where it all stood when the moving parts of this kind of regathered for a Rotary convention in Springfield in April of 1926.
Who was at that meeting?
Sellars: Several of the main players in it were all avid Rotarians Cyrus Avery out of Tulsa and (B.H.) Piepmeier, the head of the State Highway Department for the State of Missouri, John T. Woodruff. It was all being held there at his hotel at the Colonial. And so, they decided they would have a meeting while they were here for the Rotary convention anyway. And so, they had a meeting, and as they gathered up, they started seeing, well, what numbers are still available? And 66 was still available. They got to talking about it and it sounded catchy. It sounded interesting, and it looked good on paper. The double sixes, it looked really strong as far as being catchy and something that people would want to attach their name to. So, after their meeting, they sent a telegram, the Postal Telegraph Service, which was a competitor to the Western Union Postal Telegraph, had their office in the Colonial Hotel. So, they sent a telegram from the Postal Telegraph Office there in the basement of the Colonial to Washington, D.C., saying that if the other parties were agreeable, they would like to have the number 66. So that's why we consider it the birthplace of 66.
So that originated from the old Colonial Hotel, which is no longer in existence down at Jefferson and Park Central East.
Sellars: St. Louis.
Yeah, St. Louis. How quickly did federal officials agree with that?
Sellars: They responded that fall and awarded the number, and signs began going up, I guess, in September. I think it was.
And can you tell me more about John T. Woodruff, who was at that meeting at the Colonial Hotel and about his contributions to Springfield?
Sellars: John T. Woodruff was a man that — he doesn't get near the recognition that he should for all the things he did for our community. He didn't ask for anything. He didn't ask to have his name stuck on the wall. He didn't ask for anything other than it was important to the city. It was things that needed to be done to make the city better, so he just did them. It made him a very special person in my estimation. He built the Kentwood Arms. He built the Colonial. He built two other hotels downtown. He built the Landmark building or the Frisco office building. He had come here as an attorney for the railroad and did so much for this community and for the betterment of the community.
I've read that even though Route 66 was opened to travelers right away, it didn't have signs and wasn't completely paved until later. What can you tell me about that?
Sellars: Yeah, 1938. It was 12 years before it was completely paved. And the first — I don't know when Greene County was involved, but the first county in Missouri to have it completely paved across their county was Webster County.
Why do you think Route 66 has the appeal that it has for so many people?
Sellars: It was a way to experience the United States like no other. When you think about today, when you think about the interstate system, the business and the approach to all of the highways has become very homogenized. When you pull off in Springfield or you pull off in Albuquerque or you pull off somewhere else, you see the same retail establishments. You see the same restaurants. You see the same places everyplace you are. You see McDonalds, you see Burger King, you see whatever that are all the same no matter what. And back in the day, in Route 66, as you would come through town, you'd come right to the middle of town, and you got a feel for that town and the people in it and what their thoughts were, what they liked to eat, what they shopped for, and it really gave you more of a feel for the individuality and the uniqueness of each community back then. And so, it was romantic, it was exotic, it was something that you couldn't get any other way. And people would travel, seeking their fortune in new places and with new people, and this is how they got there.
What else can you tell me about the iconic highway and just the impact that it's had on so many?
Sellars: It was so highly romanticized with Bobby Troup writing the song about Route 66, you know, Nat King Cole singing it. It became very, very popular, and it became a highway to, you know, people wanting to improve their lives and improve their lot in life. It also, because it came through here, we had two other cross highways. We had 60 and 65, it made us once again a tremendous crossroads for transportation, for industry. That's why several of these big companies that built here over the years built here because it was easy to get transport in and out. Even after the interstate came, it was easy to get that transport in and out and get things hauled to where they need to be between the railroad and the highway.
As a person who has such a respect for history. What do you think it means for Springfield to be the birthplace of Route 66, the place where it got its name?
Sellars: I think it's a tremendous honor, and I think it's something that we need to be very, very proud of. And I'm happy to see all the monuments going up, all the little signs and everything. I think it's something that we've ignored for way too long. Other communities like Tulsa, Joplin have been much more forward thinking as far as the importance of it because, until you work in a museum or a place where tourists come to, you don't realize how many people from how many different countries and states across the United States come through here on Route 66. And it's an important piece of our history.
Well, John, thank you so much for talking to me. I really appreciate it.
Sellars: Happy to do it anytime.
