Stories

ROUTE 66 NEON PARK OPENING IN PULASKI COUNTY, MISSOURI

April 18, 2025

A tribute to the Mother Road is set to light up the night sky in the heart of the Ozarks! Route 66 Neon Park at George M. Reed Roadside Park in Saint Robert, MO, will host a lighting ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday, May 9, 2025. The first park of its kind in the Show Me State, Route 66 Neon Park features nearly a dozen restored neon signs that once stood along the Missouri portion of Route 66 in its prime, paying tribute to the nostalgic roadside stops that once lined America’s most famous highway.

“The opening of the Route 66 Neon Park in Saint Robert is a proud moment for our city and for all of Pulaski County,” said Saint Robert Mayor James Breckinridge. “This park not only preserves the iconic glow of America’s Mother Road, but it also celebrates the rich history and culture Route 66 brought to our region and Missouri as a whole. It’s a tribute to the spirit of exploration and connection that defined a generation. Now, it inspires a new one.”

Discussions and efforts to establish the Neon Park began in 2014 with a meeting between Beth Wiles, CDME, Executive Director of the Pulaski County Tourism Bureau, and the Missouri Route 66 Association’s Neon Heritage Preservation Committee. Fundraising efforts commenced in 2015, during which the Pulaski County Preservation Organization acquired nine neon signs and raised more than $12,000. In October 2020, the City of Saint Robert took over development, making the vision a reality. All signs, collected and refurbished by private collectors, were once used to advertise along Route 66 in Missouri, stretching from St. Louis to Joplin. Along with the restored neon signs, the park will feature storyboards to provide visitors with the backstory of each sign. Aglow once again thanks to the hard work and dedication from collectors, the signs were donated to Route 66 Neon Park by numerous entities and individuals, including Friends of the Mother Road, Inc., Missouri State Parks, the Chmura family, Kenneth and Susan Bassett, and the Route 66 Association of Missouri.

“The City of Saint Robert Route 66 Neon Park is a pivotal attraction for both Pulaski County and the state of Missouri along the iconic Mother Road,” said Beth Wiles, CDME, Executive Director of the Pulaski County Tourism Bureau. “More importantly, it revitalizes and showcases vintage neon signage, allowing people from around the globe to appreciate these historic treasures. Neon Park not only celebrates our heritage, but also invites future generations to enjoy and cherish the beauty of these luminous works of art.”

Since 1926, no other roadway in American history has evoked a sense of reverence, nostalgia, and wanderlust quite like Route 66. Running from Chicago to Santa Monica, CA, the Mother Road brought thousands of cross-country travelers to Pulaski County in its heyday. Together with the establishment of Fort Leonard Wood in the 1940s, Route 66 brought many new businesses and residents to an area then known as Eastville, later incorporated as Saint Robert.

Today, Pulaski County’s centuries-old connection to Route 66 lives on in attractions like Route 66 Neon Park. That romance and admiration for mid-century Americana led to then-Gov. John Ashcroft signing House Bill 1629 into law on July 10, 1990, at the Pulaski County Courthouse in Waynesville, making Missouri the first state to assign historic status to Route 66 and cementing Pulaski County’s legacy as the Birthplace of the Byway.

“Route 66 Neon Park is a great addition to the already-noteworthy Route 66 attractions across Missouri, including those in Pulaski County,” said Stephen Foutes, Director of the Missouri Division of Tourism. “It’s also an acknowledgment that in embracing the historic past of Route 66, there’s a strong commitment to keeping its legacy alive for generations to come.”

 

Signs featured at Route 66 Neon Park include the following:

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