This first issue is a problem for some businesses principally along the fifty eastern-most miles of Route 66 in Missouri (e.g., Sullivan to St. Louis). There are a number of businesses that issued matchbooks at different times and the “towns” that were printed on their matchbooks changed. The businesses did not change location but the town boundaries or postal names changed. So you can find matchcover images from the same business listed among two different town names. These include the Twin Six (Kirkwood and St. Louis), Bulan’s (Robertson and Bridgeton) and the Chicken Coop (Times Beach and Eureka).
The second issue that is occasionally encoutered is that there are some matchcovers from businesses that locate the business by stating “between town A and town B” or “15 miles west of town A” or something like that. If a business sits between two cities close to each other like, say, Joplin and Webb City, we don’t care: the matchcover image will be listed in one town or the other and it’s close enough. But what about a business that states it is halfway between Waynesville and Rolla? Well, what I usually did is put the matchcover image into what I calculated would be the closest town if the business matchbook listed a town. So you will find some matchcovers with rather vague location information grouped along with other matchcovers from some town or other that is not listed on the matchcover.
They were two principal alignments for Route 66 in the St. Louis area. The City route ran on Gravois and Chippewa through Shrewsbury, Webster Groves, Marlborough and Crestwood. The bypass alignment went around the city and included Lindbergh Avenue and went through Florissant, Hazelwood, Robertson, Bridgeton and Kirkwood. The Manchester Road alignment was active only briefly in the 1920s and no matchcovers from Manchester are included.
There are a number of small towns west of St. Louis where Route 66 would have been the main road in the 1950s so traveler-oriented businesses would most likely be on 66 but we are not absolutely sure. We decided to include the older 1950s-era front strike matchcovers without specific addresses in Valley Park, Pacific, Stanton and Sullivan.
Many businesses west of St. Louis referenced miles west of St. Louis rather than the nearest small town so for this archive matchcover images from businesses that locate themselves in the range of 28 to 32 miles west of St. Louis are listed as Pacific. Locations approximately 38 miles west of St. Louis are listed as Gray Summit. Locations approximately 40 to 42 miles west of St. Louis are listed as Villa Ridge. Locations approximately 50 miles west of St. Louis are listed as St. Clair. Locations approximately 54 to 60 miles west of St. Louis are listed as Stanton. Locations approximately 64 miles west of St. Louis are listed as Sullivan.
Marshall’s Texaco Service at 610 South Jefferson in Lebanon was actually on the corner of Route 66 and South Jefferson. It’s just that the postal address was assigned to Jefferson.
Some matchcovers from the City of Joplin require some explanation. The Hotel Connor/Connor Hotel was at 324 Main Street in Joplin and the Keystone Hotel (and the Glass Hat Cocktail Lounge) was at Main Street and 4th and so both were on Route 66. The Koronado Kourts was located on West 7th (Route 66) near Schifferdecker Park. It was razed for the present-day Wal-Mart. I’m not sure if the Prom Rocket Motel/Rocket Motel was on 66 since it was on Rangeline but inside printing says it was on something called bypass 66 so it is included.
I listed the last three matchcovers tagged with the location KS-MO State Line under Missouri. In his book “The Missouri US 66 Tour Book” author Skip Curtis confirms that the State Line Mercantile/Archers was in Missouri. I included the Fred & Harry establishment here in Missouri because it sold liquor. Cherokee County in Kansas was supposedly “dry” back then.