![](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_663,h_626/https://www.route66news.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Hazelgreen-United-Methodist-Church-min.jpg)
A local journalist recently acquired the former Hazelgreen United Methodist Church that stands along Route 66 near Hazelgreen, Missouri.
The church not only is known for being right next to the Mother Road, but it also contains a still-working neon cross atop its steeple visible from nearby Interstate 44.
The church only is about 1 1/2 miles east of the historic Gasconade River Bridge.
Darrell Todd Maurina, owner of the Pulaski County Daily News, announced his acquisition of the church in mid-November.
Here’s an image of the neon cross. Such crosses have become increasingly rare across the American landscape:
Maurina said the congregation that previously owned the church was founded in 1876. It held its last worship service on Easter Sunday this year, with only four people attending.
Route 66 Times reports the current church was built in 1950 on Heartwood Road, the original 1926 alignment of Route 66.
He said the church tentatively will be renamed Hazelgreen Reformed Chapel.
“I hope to begin Heidelberg Catechism classes in the building soon, probably on Wednesday evenings,” Maurina wrote in a Facebook post. “Sunday worship won’t start for quite a while, however.”
More about the church can be found on Facebook here.
(Image of the Hazelgreen United Methodist Church in 2017 via Facebook)