The city of Marshfield, Missouri, soon will add signs along the 1929 city alignment of Route 66.
According to the Marshfield Mail, residents of the old Route 66 alignment of Pine Street in town had no objection to signing it.
The newspaper reported from a city-council meeting:
The committee members, who included Jill Phillips, Sheri Benson, Randy Clair and Jan Clair, said approximately 12,000 Route 66 enthusiasts per year drive the route, and that approximately half will take side routes, such as city routes, in search of buildings from the period when Route 66 flourished. Phillips emphasized the desire to bring potential business to the Marshfield square, which can be accomplished both through the HIstorical Business 66 signage and signage worded “To Historic City Route 66” placed at the corner of Hubble and Marshall Streets.
Joe Sonderman, an expert on Route 66 in Missouri, confirmed in an email the City 66 alignment in Marshfield consists of Pine and Washington streets. The latter rejoins the better-known Route 66 alignment on the city’s western edge.
The city fathers are right in this instance about their plan: A properly signed alignment will draw its share of travelers. History buffs make up a sizable share of Route 66 fans, and checking out a once-obscure alignment of 66 will prove irresistible to many.
Washington Street, aka City 66, boasts the historic Rainey Funeral Home Building, constructed from native fieldstone about 1938 in a Tudor Revival style. Based on recent photos, it appears to now be used as an office complex.
Marshfield probably is best known as the hometown of astronomer Edwin Hubble, who has an outer-space telescope named after him. In response, the city built a replica of the telescope, which sits on the Webster County Courthouse lawn.
(Image of a Route 66 sign in Missouri by Tony Hisgett via Flickr)