Route 66 Ghost Towns Missouri - 11 towns between Carthage and Springfield

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I've been a big fan of Route 66 ever since I did the whole trip in the fall of 2020. When I did that trip, I was very interested in this stretch of the road, but it was raining and I wasn't able to explore it thoroughly. This time I really took my time and found there were 11 ghost town type places within a short 34 mile stretch. That's pretty incredible if you think about it. They range from towns of around 100 people to hardly anything at all. Also included are some epic Route 66 stops like Spencer and Paris Springs Junction. This video should be interesting for anyone interested in Route 66 or Missouri history!

T-shirt: Trejo's Tacos

0:00 Intro
0:43 Avilla
3:31 Plew
4:52 Rescue
6:02 Phelps
7:45 Albatross
9:07 Heatonville
10:11 Spencer
12:36 Paris Springs Junction
14:58 Paris Springs
15:44 Halltown
17:14 Plano
18:32 Yeakley

Music
Fractal of Light - Chris Haugen
Green Green Garden - Chris Haugen
The Gift - Reed Mathis
Coming Home - Dan Lebowitz

[papabear]

Gotta admit, Spencer looked pretty cool, and it's good to see that someone restored the old buildings here. Kudos to whoever did that.

[chriscosby]

I am really liking your videos Wiseguy. Southwest Missouri and Southeast Kansas are fascinating.

[geneballay]

I watched this in the past and it showed up in my feed again, so I watched it a second time. And learned even more. You are very close to where I grew up, and where I returned to after retirement. We have traced Rt 66, best we could, all the way from where you are today, down to OK, City. Your videos are fascinating. Thank you for all the research, travel and effort put into the video, and then sharing.

[kerrydavidsadler]

Thankyou for showing my home town of HALLTOWN I grew up there, my parents and my older brother and younger sister moved there in 1970 and lived there till the mid 80's. Than my parents moved to AURORA MO about 20 - 25 miles from HALLTOWN . I now live in MOUNT VERNON MISSOURI just about 12 miles from HALLTOWN. Besides living in Tulsa OK from 1981 - 1988, I have lived in this same area most of my live. When me moved to HALLTOWN I was 7 years old, I'm now 60. I was born along with my older brother in California, when I was 5 in 1968 that's when we moved to Springfield Missouri, my sister was born in 1969 and in 1970 we moved to HALLTOWN. My parents have both passed away, and my sister lives in Springfield Missouri, and me and my older brother we both live in MOUNT VERNON Missouri .

[theworldwariioldtimeradioc]

Last time I drove 66 through that area was in the mid 90’s when the road nostalgia craze was just starting. I think it’s time to go back. Thanks for sharing.

[billfowler]

I drive this road often. Thanks for giving some history of these little towns that time assed by. Very interesting.

[jiminalaska]

you should got to Jerico Springs, Mo sometime. I was born there in a house, there was a hardware store, grocery store bank newswpaper gas station, now nothing.

[steveholmes]

Thank you for teaching me the history of places I go by quite a bit. You treat these places with respect. I appreciate that.

[desertheavens]

Avilla holds great memories for me. My grandma and grandpa lived there, and grandpa had his own blacksmith shop just on the west side and behind of what used to be the farm store Chapman Follmers. In fact, when I was 4 and my cousins and I were playing amongst the farm machinery there a corn picker fell on my chest. My uncle single handedly picked it up while my dad pulled me out and rushed me to the hospital in Carthage. I was lucky. It then took four men to pick it up and reset it on it's supports. After that they fenced it in. Grandpa was well known in the area as the best blacksmith. Their house burned when the Avilla lumberyard burned. As kids we roamed the town, visited the grocery store often where I was fascinated by the lady that sacked the groceries because she only had one arm. Crazy what you remember from childhood. My cousin still lives there on grandma and grandpa's property. Good times. That was back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. Family was really important then.

[markwilliams]

Springfield Missouri. Where RT 66 Started. Live in the Ozarks Missouri. Thank God! 🙏🏁🤠

[briansturges]

I'm glad you featured that stone building in Plano. It stands out as one of the most interesting along the route and looks like it could be centuries older than the 1890's. Someone sure put a lot of care into building that one.

[marciabrumfield]

Thanks for this tour of historic Route 66. I grew up and lived most of my life in Springfield, MO, and traveled Rt. 66 a lot. My grandparents lived in Joplin and my first mother in law lived on 96 fairly close to Miller, MO, in a WPA school building built of those cool stones that so many buildings were built of way back when.

[tmgetts]

I love the way you add in the history of the places you visit —thank you for sharing.

[colingeorgeh]

Another well done video. Interesting stories and very nice bluegrass music. It all blends nicely together. Thanks for sharing.

[louabbott]

Thanks so much for this video tour. I enjoy seeing places that once were but are now no more.

[gailjames]

Cool. Hopefully one of these days I am able to drive and see everything that is left on R66. Thank you.👏♥️😊

[KCPrible]

Thank you. It was very relaxing to watch this video. I have not been on this strip, but traveled it suite extensively off and o between Springfield and St Louis. It brought back memories especially the architecture. What a blessing.

[buckgibbons]

I enjoyed your walk through history in Southern Missouri...I was raised in NE Missouri, around Hannibal. My family has over 200 year of history associated with Missouri.

[d.g.n]

Thank you for the great video, the old places.
I remember the old 66 highway, the interstate 44 was built in the 60’s. I was born in Springfield in 1954, grew up in Rolla. We traveled back and forth on the 66 and 44, also from Springfield to the southeast corner of Kansas. Many trips, stopped at the old places for gas and old picnic parks.
When I was about 7 years old, my grandparents drove to one of the old gas stations, an old lady ran it. The gas was something like $ .21 cents a gallon.
Old 66 had a beveled curb-lip on the shoulder. Once my grandmother kind of veered over a little, onto the lip. It made the whole car rock back and forth. It was a 58 chev. Scary for a little kid.

[tresawilkins]

It's nice to hear a bit of history about all these little towns. This is a portion of the route I take when driving between my house and my daughter's. Thanks for posting!