The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader did a public service Wednesday, namely clearing up fact from fiction about the much-photographed limestone ruins at the ghost town of Plano, Mo., on Route 66.
Among the wild claims — no doubt fueled by the ruins’ gothic appearance — were the building once served as a casket factory or a mortuary. Either is untrue.
Jackie Warfel, who researched the site, pieced together its history:
- The 50-by-60-foot site was built in 1902 from native limestone by John Jackson and his family.
- The first floor became a general store managed by Jackson’s son and two daughters.
- The upstairs was living quarters, along with a large room for meetings, dances, court sessions and church services.
- A mortuary and casket factory later was housed in a wooden building across the street. No embalming was done there, and the building no longer stands.
- A rock building on the southeast corner of the crossroads once was a Tydol gas station and store. It’s now a private residence, and is a striking sight in its own right. Here’s a photo of it.
- Plano went extinct when the community and Route 66 were bypassed by Interstate 44.
The Plano ruins are at Missouri 266 (aka Route 66) and Farm Road 45 (map here).
(Image of the Plano ruins courtesy of Ace Jackalope)
thanks! You made my day…
C.A
Past 66er (July 2006)
My grandmother was born in 1910 and passed on 1995. They lived in the area and she attended school in Halltown. She used to tell me stories when we would pass this building on the way to Springfield in the 80’s and 90’s. She said it was a store and that there dances upstairs when she was a child. One of her older cousins took her with her to a dance there, once or twice. A very exciting thing back in that day.
I have actually stopped and taken photos inside the shell of that building. Good memories!
My wife grandfather who was born in 1904 and grew up in the area told us it was a store when he was kid!
In the mid-30s, my grandfather ran the gas station and store at Plano. In those days there were several outbuildings that were “Trailer Courts” for tourists. My parents and I lived in them during the winter of 1936-37. My grandparents left there in 1938 and moved to Joplin where they ran a small restaurant on Smelter Hill. In 1940, they sold the restaurant and bought a gas station/grocery store on Hwy 66 in Brooklyn Heights (Near Carthage).
Thank you for sharing that, J.L. Memories like that add to Route 66’s historical record.
Fantastic story, Rex.
Sure do appreciated all the memorabilia!
Al
W0ERE