About Missouri
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MO: Facts, Trivia and useful information
Area: 69,709 sq. mi. (180,533 km2). Population: 6,063,589 (2014 est.).
Width: 240 mi. (385 km). Length 300 mi. (480 km)
Time zone (along U.S. 66 alignment): Central (CST): UTC minus 6 hours. Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5).
Some Facts:
Old Gillioz theater on Route 66 in Springfield, MO. By Abe Ezekowitz
- Nickname: "The Show Me State".
- Motto: "Salus populi Suprema Lex Esto" (Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law).
- Capital: Jefferson City
- Highest point: Taum Sauk Mountain, 1,772 ft. (540 m)
- 30th most populous state in America.
- 18th largest state in the U.S.
- Admitted as the 24th state of the Union on August 10, 1821
- Route 66 length in Missouri 313 miles (504 km).
5th longest stretch of US 66 - Springfield MO, is known as "The Birthplace of Route 66"
State's Nickname
The nickname "Show me State" has disputed origins, one version attributes it to Congressman Willard Vandiver who in 1899, who used it in a speech to state his skepticism, he needed to be shown something to believe in it, words would not convince him.
The Name: Missouri
The Missouri River gave its name to the state. In turn it originated from the local Missouri Indians. Their neighbors, the Miami-Illinois speakers called them the "ouemessourita", which meant "those who have dugout canoes"
The History of Missouri
Main Street in Joplin, ca. 1910
Main Street in Joplin, ca. 1910
The ancestors of Native Americans have lived in Missouri for at least 10,000 years, with mound builders constructing massive earthwork structures along the eastern Mississippi area until 600 years ago.
The French from Canada advanced southwards and settled Missouri from the Great Lakes region via Illinois in the mid-1700s.
However St. Louis was founded by French from New Orleans in 1764. The region was known as Louisiana after the famous French King Louis XIV.
After the Seven Years' War (1763) France ceded Upper Louisiana to Spain, but Napoleon recovered it for France in 1800. Then, strapped for cash he sold it to the U.S. in 1803.
St. Louis was the starting point for the settlement of the West, hence its name "Gateway to the West". The famous Lewis and Clark Expedition to Oregon started off from this city.
This part of Louisiana became the Missouri Territory in 1812 and it became a state of the Union in 1821.
Settlers encroached on the native Osage and Kickapoo people who ceded their land in a series of treaties between 1808 and 1825; they were relocated to reservations in the Indian Territory, which later became the state of Oklahoma.
The original native "traces" or trails from St. Louis to Springfield and SW Missouri were improved into dirt roads and a stage coach service ran along it. During the Civil War part of it became the "Wire Road" as it ran next to the telegraph line.
It became the main road between St. Louis and Springfield and during the early 1910s. By 1920 it was the gravel surfaced state highway (MO-14).
Route 66 was aligned along it in 1926.
Top - Ten Stops on Route 66 in Missouri
Gary's Gay Parita Sinclair Gas Station
Paris Springs MO, openroads.com
- The World's (second) Largest Rocking Chair (Fanning)
- Gay Parita Service station and store (Paris Springs)
- Big Chief Hotel (Wildwood) Historic Site
- Red Cedar Inn (Pacific) Historic Site
- Wagon Wheel Motel, Cafe and Gas Station (Cuba) Historic Site
- Historic Rock Fountain Tourist Court Motel (Springfield) Historic Site
- 66 drive-in theater (Carthage) Historic Site
- Circle Inn Malt Shop (Bourbon).
- Munger Moss Motel (Lebanon).
- Gillioz Theatre (Springfield) Historic Site
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The Geography of Missouri
This Midwestern state is relatively flat north of the Missouri River which marks its NW border and crosses the central part of the state to join the Mississippi River just north of Saint Louis (the Mississippi marks the state's eastern border).
South of the Missouri River lie the rolling hills of the Ozark Mountains made of limestone rocks that form caves and sinkholes.
Missouri is located on a geologically stable region and there are no volcanoes. However Southeastern Missouri (New Madrid) suffered serious earthquakes in the early 1800s.
Boots Court Motel in Carthage, Route 66
Missouri's Climate & Weather
Landlocked Missouri has a Humid Continental climate: summers are hot and humid; winters are cold with plenty of snow.
Lacking high mountains, the cold Arctic air in winter and the hot damp air from the Gulf of Mexico in summer, flow across the state unchecked.
It is part of the "Tornado Alley" and thunderstorms take place frequently during summer, causing tornados, which strike often.
Temperatures along US 66 average between 37°F and 18° F in winter (3 to -8°C) to 90°F and 66°F in summer (32 to 19°C).
Saint Louis
Average High ⁄ Low Temperatures in Winter and Summer:
Jan.: 38 ⁄ 21 °F (3 ⁄ -6 °C)
Jul. : 90 ⁄ 71 °F (32 ⁄ 22 °C)
Spring is a great time to visit Missouri; cherry trees and dogwood blossom across the Ozarks, don't miss them!
Cherry blossoms in Marshfield, Missouri
Cities along Route 66 in Missouri
Greater St. Louis is a large metropolitan area with a population (2013) of 2,905,658 inhabitants. Ranking 19th in the USA. The city of Saint Louis city is far smaller: pop. 318,172.
Around 932,000 people live along Route 66's corridor through Missouri, in small sized towns and villages.
Springfield, Rolla, Cuba and Joplin are the largest of them.
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