Members of the Baxter Springs Historical Society in Baxter Springs, Kansas, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony on a Route 66 roadside park that will be next to the city’s Route 66 Welcome Center.
According to a report in the Joplin Globe, the project will offer parking for downtown, a mural and a statue commemorating Baxter Springs’ heritage as the “first cowtown in Kansas.”
The historical society said major funding for the project was provided by the Hartley Family Philanthropy Fund, a State of Kansas Attraction Development Grant, the estate of John Paul, the estate of Madelyn Babcock and the American Bank of Baxter, with additional funding from others.
Here’s a video report from a local television station:
The project had been announced three years ago.
The Phillips 66 station where the Route 66 Welcome Center resides was built in 1930 by Independent Oil and Gas, which merged with Phillips Oil Co. later that year.
The station was purchased by the historical society in 2006 and restored in 2008 through a National Park Service grant. It’s at 10th Street and Military Avenue (aka Route 66).
(Image of the Baxter Springs 66 Welcome Center via Facebook)