A husband and wife team who moved the Munger Moss restaurant to Lebanon, Missouri, and built a famous motel of the same name were among those who will be inducted into the 2025 Laclede County Route 66 Wall of Fame.
Pete and Jessie Hudson moved the Munger Moss Sandwich Shop from Devils Elbow, Missouri, to Lebanon after Route 66 bypassed the village. In 1945, the Hudsons bought four acres east of Lebanon and built the Munger Moss Motor Court (later the Munger Moss Motel), which stands today. The Hudsons sold the motel to Bob and Ramona Lehman in 1971. The Munger Moss is closed as it undergoes a transition to new ownership, which has pledged to preserve its Route 66 heritage.
Harry “Shorty” Jones, Bill Jones Sr. and Bill Jones Jr. will go into the Wall of Fame for their ownership of a gas station on Route 66 east of Lebanon from the 1920s to 1956. Bill Sr. also operated Bill’s Garage for many years after the original station was torn down due to Interstate 44 construction. Bill Jr. was president of the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society from 2016 to 2020 and led a fundraising campaign for three Route 66 murals in the city’s Boswell Park.
The final inductees for 2025 are Ozark Trail delegates in 1917. Don O. Vernon, Sam R. Farrar and William H. Owen Jr. were chosen as Lebanon’s delegates to attend a meeting in Amarillo, Texas, to determine the Ozark Trail’s alignment. Vernon’s speech at Amarillo proved persuasive, as Lebanon was chosen to be on the Ozark Trail, a precursor to Route 66 in several states.
The Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society announced the latest inductees last week. More than 40 names were discussed by the seven-person Wall of Fame committee for the Class of 2025. The induction ceremony will be on Jan. 18.
According to the society, the Wall of Fame honors “those who made exceptional contributions to the development or promotion of Route 66 or who operated legendary businesses on Route 66 in Laclede County, Missouri.”
The Wall of Fame’s plaques are displayed in the Route 66 Museum at the Lebanon-Laclede County Library. Each inductee or a family member also will receive a plaque.
(Image of the Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon, Missouri, by Stu Rapley via Flickr)