Kansas communities along Route 66 are capitalizing on the centennial anniversary of the highway, which includes 13 miles in southeast Kansas as the road weaves from Illinois to California.
Visitor numbers at the Baxter Springs Heritage Center and Museum in southeast Kansas topped 6,000 this year — a 64% increase over last year.
The center's director, Mary Billington, says the uptick is because of travel for the Route’s centennial and Kansas City hosting some of the World Cup games.
“We've seen all of this uptick in both commercial tourism and just private tourism,” Billington said, “where it's just mom and pop going down the road — versus this car club with 100 members bringing their cars down the entirety of Route 66.”
Billington said the centers and shops in Baxter Springs work with Galena to help “keep the story alive,” in reference to the history of Route 66.
“My philosophy has always been what's good for one is good for all,” Billington said.
Fox News host and Kansas native, Steve Doocy, also visited Baxter Springs for the celebration in April and did a live show. Billington attributes Doocy’s appearance to an increase in visitors at the center.
Dale Helwig, the director of the Cherokee County Economic Development Office, said new businesses have started popping up along the route to draw in tourists.
Shops have been popping up in the area to further capitalize on the traffic.
“There’s a couple antique shops, knickknack shops that have shown up. There’s a t-shirt shop that showed up in Baxter,” Helwig said. “We have seen increased storefronts being utilized in the downtown area of both Baxter and Galena.”
The office also started implementing Route 66 passports, where each stop can stamp a passport.
Local businesses had anticipated their revenue would increase due to tourism along the route. Some businesses, like Cars on the Route in Galena, have exceeded their higher projections. The cafe and souvenir shop is along the original Route 66 road.
On a rainy October day, visitors in a big charter bus unloaded to take photos of a truck built to look like the character Tow Mater in the Pixar movie, “Cars.”
Renee Charles is one of the store’s owners. She’s part of the Road Ahead Partnership, a national conglomerate of national parks, preservations, the Route 66 associations and other affiliates. She said the partnership had predicted the increase, but it was still surprising for her.
She said her international tourism has nearly doubled. There’s a collection of foreign currency stuck to the wall, an addition to the store that didn’t exist before this year.
“I'd say it's been crazy. Very active, very busy and very enjoyable,” Renee Charles said.
Rachel Schnelle reports on Missouri and Kansas issues for KRPS.
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