Route 66, Route 7, 47, 59…
Cheryl Unruh
Originally published 02:18 p.m., September 18, 2007
Updated 02:18 p.m., September 18, 2007
We caught up with that most famous of highways in Galena.
Galena is one of three towns in Kansas along Route 66. Of the 2,200 miles of this historic roadway, only 13.2 miles ride through Kansas.
Galena (pop. 3,163) seems to be a town worn by hard times — and collapsing earth. The old mines below Galena are creating holes in the ground, which is causing big problems, as one might imagine.
You can find a couple miles of the original Route 66 highway from Galena to the Missouri line. We drove the old narrow road to the state line and turned around.
Then, heading toward Oklahoma, we stopped at Eisler Brothers Store in Riverton (pop. 600).
This business originally opened in 1925 and has a crowded-general-store feel to it. Cold drinks can be pulled from an old Coca Cola chest and a small room is packed with Route 66 souvenirs.
I asked the clerk about tourists and she said it’s quieter “now that the Norwegians are done for the season.” She said groups from Norway rent motorcycles and ride from Chicago to Los Angeles or vice versa. International tourists stop in often.
“Many people come from England,” she said. “And Spain. We get a lot from Spain.”
Between Riverton and Baxter Springs stands an old Marsh Rainbow Arch bridge over Brush Creek. A new bridge has been built nearby, but the old span was preserved.
Route 66 winds through Baxter Springs (pop. 4,246) and into Oklahoma.
The 13.2 miles were over in a hurry.
But our journey was not complete; we took a different route home.
In Columbus (pop. 3,259), we found a beautiful fountain in front of the artsy Cherokee County Courthouse. A 1919 Seth Thomas clock tower keeps time on the square, its workings visible inside a glass case.
On this trip, we tried to visit as many county seats as possible. That led us to Girard (pop. 2,686).
Like Labette County, the Crawford and Neosho county seats are not in the largest towns in the county. One might expect courthouses to be in Pittsburg and Chanute. Instead, they are in Girard and Erie.
On a corner of Girard’s courthouse square is a memorial to veterans of the Vietnam War. There’s a black, V-shaped wall with names of Kansans killed. Next to the wall is a helicopter from the war.
In Neosho County, Erie (pop. 1,167) has a low-flung modern courthouse. Across the street, there’s a soda fountain in Richey’s Rexall Drug Store.
On my many trips through Southeast Kansas, I’ve seen the highway signs to Chanute, but have never entered the city limits. Until now.
Chanute (pop. 9.006) is a town that makes you feel glad you stopped by.
It’s a pleasant place. The huge Santa Fe depot now houses the public library as well as the Osa and Martin Johnson Safari Museum. We’ll have to return to explore that.
A cornerstone for Chanute is the Tioga Hotel, an impressive building in the heart of town.
Chanute is named for Octave Chanute and downtown there’s a creative, up-in-the-air memorial to the man who was a mentor to the Wright Brothers.
In Yates Center, Dave and I stopped for barbecue at Smokey Ben’s. It’s the place where I first enjoyed sweet potato fries a few years ago. Sweet potato fries should be on every restaurant menu and (borrowing John Peterson’s line), they would be, if I had my way.
Route 66 is the road with the famed mystique. But in Kansas, every road, every highway unfolds with remnants of the old days. Each town in the state is worthy of exploration.
Follow your own route.
“Flyover People” is online at www.flyoverpeople.net.
• Cheryl Unruh can be reached at cheryl@flyoverpeople.net.