Baxter Springs

The area from Joplin, Missouri through Galena, Riverton and Baxter Springs, Kansas to Picher, Oklahoma was lead and zinc mining country, extracting galena (lead sulphide) ore until the 1960s. The closure of the mines, followed by the bypassing of US Route 66 by Interstate highways, led to a decline in the local economy and a drop in local population.
As mining was never permitted within the Baxter Springs city limits, the town escaped the ecological damage which turned nearby Picher into a ghost town. The original motels and campgrounds which served motorists on the dozen miles of US Route 66 in Kansas are now gone, but portions of the city's Route 66 legacy live on to attract visitors today.

Baxter Springs is accessible by motorcar on the former US Route 66, where it is sixteen miles (22 km) west of Joplin, Missouri. There is no local transit service.
When Interstate 44 bypassed Route 66, it avoided Kansas entirely by crossing directly from Missouri to Oklahoma. To get back to Route 66 (Alternate US 69) from I-44, exit to US Route 400 at the Missouri state line and drive 8 miles (13 km) west to Baxter Springs.

• Baxter Springs Heritage Center and Museum

  phone: +1 620 856-2385
  address: 740 East Ave
  Local history including Quantrill's Battle & Massacre, US Civil War, both world wars, the retail main street in the 1870s and 1930s, a Lincoln school room, US Route 66, the local tri-state mining district, native and black American history. Souvenir shop.

• Baxter Springs Independent Oil and Gas Service Station

  phone: +1 620 856-2066
  address: 940 Military Ave
  This 1930s service station dispensed first Independent Oil and Gas and later Phillips Petroleum; the building was restored in 2007 as the Kansas Route 66 Visitor Center.

• Soldiers' Lot, Baxter Springs City Cemetery

  address: US 166 West
  A place of burial and Civil War memorial for those who fought in the 1863 Battle of Baxter Springs.

• Cowtown DaysAnnual summer festival with entertainment, arts and craft fair, gospel music, contests and a car show.

• Carol's Flea Market and Appraisals

  phone: +1 620 856-5570
  address: 1141 Military Ave.
  Antiques and Route 66 memorabilia.

• Baxter Springs Smokehouse

  phone: +1 620 856-3287
  address: 2320 Military Ave
  Smoked meats, steaks, burgers, sandwiches and seafood, takeout.

• Chili Willy's

  phone: +1 620 856-3833
  address: 2327 Military Ave.

• El Cabrito

  phone: +1 620-856-3733
  address: 2135 Military Ave
  Mexican, steakhouse.

• Route 66 Soda Fountain

  phone: +1 620 856-5520
  address: 1136 Military Ave

• Weston's Route 66 Café

  phone: +1 620-856-4414
  address: 1737 Military
  Rebuilt/reopened after an April 27, 2014 EF2 tornado hit.

• Baxter Inn

  phone: +1 620 856-2106
  address: 2451 Military Ave

• Riverside Park

  phone: +1 620 856-2112
  address: US Route 166, south side, at east edge of Baxter Springs
  Park with local campground on Spring River. Fishing, boat ramp, RV electrical hook-up, shelter houses, tables, grills and rest rooms. Contact the Baxter Springs Police Department (121 W 11th St.) for a permit to camp.

Riverton

An unincorporated Route 66 community, population 930, at what is now the junction of K-66 and U.S. Route 69 Alternate.

• Eisler Brothers Country Store

  phone: +1 620 848-3330
  address: 7109 SE Oriole Lane, Riverton
  1925 country store with groceries, produce, flowers, deli sandwiches, souvenirs and memorabilia. One of the stops on Pixar's US 66 research trip for 2006 film "Cars", where Route 66 Association president Dean Walker showed the film's makers his ability to twist his feet around 180° and walk backwards. (The corresponding character in the animated film, a rusty tow truck, teaches how to drive backwards.) According to route 66 historian and guide Michael Wallis, "As luck would have it, we had just eaten a sandwich at the Eisler Brothers when we met Dean, He was proud as punch to show them his exorcist feet and regale them with stories of the Ghost Light."

• Rainbow Bridge

  address: Brush Creek
  Sole surviving single-span concrete Marsh arch bridge on Route 66. Built in 1923.