So I would say about 30% of our guests are international.

And I would say another 40%, 50% are out of state.

So we get a few locals, but it's rare.

It's mostly people from all over the world.

My guest book right now is about 60 different countries in it.

For the month of August, we have a lot of Italians there traveling Route 66 because their travel season.

[music playing] The mistake of traveling route 66 conjures up images of a bygone era.

Staying in an original hotel along Route 66, like the Boots Court Motel, offers a unique blend of nostalgia, history, and a touch of Americana in its own right.

On the program today, we travel to Carthage, Missouri, and visit with Jeremy Morris, manager of the Boots Court Motel and learn how historic preservation of this icon of Route 66 allows travelers to rest while enjoying a piece of history.

NARRATOR: Ozarks public television and Missouri State University are proud to present OzarksWatch Video Magazine, a locally produced program committed to increasing the understanding of the richness and complexity of Ozarks culture.

Visit our website for more information.

[music playing] Well, we have a special treat today coming from the crossroads of America.

That's-- that's quite-- quite a saying, the crossroads of America.

Yes.

And we're going to talk a lot about the Boots Court Motel and a lot of the different things.

So why don't we start off by you just giving us a little bit of background about yourself-- JEREMY MORRIS: Sure --and how you ended up becoming a hotel manager or motel.

Yes, I didn't expect this, actually.

My name is Jeremy Morris.

I'm the motel manager of the Boots Court Motel and Visitor Center-- JIM BAKER: Yeah.

--right here in Carthage, Missouri, located at the crossroads of America.

This is where two important roads meet, actually, Route 66 and the Jefferson Highway.

Yeah, you know, the Jefferson Highway may be a little bit less known, by-- JEREMY MORRIS: Yes.

--some of the viewers.

So why don't you talk about that one just a little bit?

Sure so the Jefferson highway is one of the oldest north-south car roads in the entire world.

This actually predates the highway system.

So this is before they had numbering.

So, of course, we have 66.

But the Jefferson was just named after the president.

And it crosses the Lincoln, for instance.

But it goes from Winnipeg, Canada to New Orleans, Louisiana.

And it's called the Pine-to-Palm highway because it goes from pine trees to palm trees.

And then, of course, when it intersects with 66, you get the crossroads-- Right.

JIM BAKER: --of America.

It's probably one of the most important intersections in the country.

Yeah and I don't think we'd have to talk too much about Route 66 because most people know a lot about it.

JEREMY MORRIS: Yes.

And why don't we talk a little bit about the motel?

JEREMY MORRIS: Sure.

And you can talk a little bit about all the work that you guys have done to renovate it-- Sure.

JIM BAKER: --and to keep it going.

Well, Arthur Boots built this in 1939.

The old office next door actually, was the Red Horse Service Station.

So it was a gas station.

You can actually see the outline of the old pumps in the concrete still.

And then Arthur Boots was kind of inspired by his older brother, Lloyd, who had built the first Boots Cottage Caught up in Eldon, Missouri.

It still exists now.

It's called the Randles Court.

And he decided, hey, I can do a motel as well.

So they got an architect in here.

And he got his brother Lloyd, and they had a bunch of concrete blocks and a brother, and they built the Boots in 1939.

So they added on basically to the gas station behind it.

JIM BAKER: So how many units were there on the original?

So originally, there was four bays-- JIM BAKER: Right.

--for the 1939 building.

I think there was actually four rooms, not eight rooms though.

Because they actually cut the rooms in two at some point in the 40s, I believe.

Yeah, and the first thing you notice when you look at them is the drive-in feature for the cars.

Right.

So the carports are kind of what we're known for.

People traveling route 66, they want to get that neon picture inside the carport.

Originally Arthur, being kind of a gearhead himself, he actually designed that, where you could pull in.

And there was compartments that you could change your oil and fix your car up actually on the road.

Yeah, and the-- talk a little bit about the-- the number of owners and the-- JEREMY MORRIS: Sure.

--just kind of the gradual decline of the facility.

Sure.

So in '42, Arthur actually got a divorce from his wife, Ilda.

She gets the building.

They sell it to the Neeley family, which are still in town.

And they built the additional building in the back.

So that building was built in '46.

And one of the reasons they built the rear building is because now it's after the war, and people are traveling for fun on the roads and traveling with families.

So they needed extra beds.

So the rooms in the back are actually larger.

Yeah, the original rooms are relatively small.

I mean, obviously-- That's right.

They were single, single queen bedrooms, small bathrooms.

Our guests still say, you know, the showers seem a little small.

And the shower heads are actually very short.

JIM BAKER: Yes, they come to my chest.

Yes.

So you tested that one out.

It's actually by design, though.

Arthur Boots, realizing that women's hairstyles in the 1940s needed to not get wet and set, he actually built it from the neck down.

So that's not a bug.

That's a feature of the Boots.

That's actually pretty clever.

So I would have never figured that out.

I thought it was maybe for short-- short people or something.

But so, how many units in the back?

So they added five additional units in the back.

And if you look at the numbering, it's 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 they skipped 13.

That was the known superstition of the time.

The door that doesn't have any numbers on it, which is 13-- JEREMY MORRIS: Yes, that's the basement.

It's Interesting.

It's an interesting door-- JEREMY MORRIS: So yes.

--when I opened it up so you can go downstairs.

Right.

If you're in room 13, you're in trouble.

There's-- something happened.

So, has-- has the building-- how did the foundation and other groups start taking over and-- Sure.

- JIM BAKER: --try to renovate it?

Sure.

So in '46, Arthur Boots actually went across the street and built the Boots Drive-In, which kind of supplemented The Boots.

JIM BAKER: Yeah, that's a very interesting building.

Yes, actually, that was a building that served breakfast all day.

They had a radio show out of there called, "Breakfast from the Crossroads."

And Lee Crocker from KDMO actually did a broadcast out of there.

And he would interview tourists and celebrities all day.

Mickey Mantle was interviewed, Guy Lombardo, I've got a picture of Guy Lombardo's speedboat in front of the-- the building.

So yeah, I guess by being on 66, you would have a lot of people to interview and coming through.

So-- Yes, this was a very important intersection at the time.

So who were some of-- there was a lot of celebrities I know that came through.

And I guess Clark Gable was probably the most famous.

Can you talk a little bit about the room that he stayed in, I guess two times?

He came back twice, actually.

Clark Gable is probably our most famous guest.

He stayed here twice.

And we verified him because some of the records got lost over time.

But he came in '42 and stayed in Room 6.

And he pulled in.

He was selling war bonds at the time.

This is three years after "Gone with the Wind," and his wife had just passed away.

So he was just basically passing through.

In '47, though, he came back and he was meeting a friend.

They were racetrack aficionados.

And this was kind of the central point to meet.

And so he stayed in Room 10 because he remembered the boots, and he got one of the larger rooms.

And when he was there-- we still have the desk where he signed autographs because the word got out around town that he was actually here.

So people started showing up slowly.

And we actually have an autograph that was retrieved by a young girl at the time.

She, you know, tepidly knocked on the door and he answered.

And he said, here's an autograph for you and here's one for your mother.

And so we have that.

Sounds like a very nice man.

He was a nice guy.

Yeah, it's a good deal.

So when you started-- how much disrepair was the facility in when you guys got really started on-- Yes.

So in '48, the Neeleys sold it to Rube Asplin who was a professional wrestler, and they had it till 1991 and stayed a motel till then.

And it changed names and it changed shape even.

It had a gabled roof.

They had changed the sign to say Boots Motel because Boots Court had kind of fallen out of favor.

But in '91, when Asplin sold it to several other owners, it kind of went in decline.

And about 12 years ago, they were actually going to tear down The Boots.

And two sisters came along, Priscilla Bledsaw and Debbie Harvey, and they basically saved the place from the wrecking ball.

And so I still have Katie, the daughter of Debbie Harvey, working for me as our head housekeeper.

Yeah, I met her earlier, yeah.

Yes, you saw her in the tunnel.

In the tunnel.

In the-- in the mysterious tunnel.

The yeah, "Boots after Dark", Room 13.

But yes, they basically saved it.

So after COVID and it was about time to retire, you know, the place was kind of a slowing down a little bit business-wise for a couple of years there.

And they thought, well, we did all the renovation we could.

They actually restored the sign, the original neon.

They took off the gabled roof, restored the roof line.

And they thought, well, let's sell it to somebody that will be interested and really fix this place up.

So a group of local families and folks formed The Boots Foundation, which is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), and they basically renovated this place for a couple of years.

And we're sitting in some of that-- the benefits are right here.

You know, the gas station is an old Sinclair gas station that was on the property.

That's our visitor center now.

And then all 13 rooms of the motel have been renovated.

Yeah, so you guys did a great job with it.

JIM BAKER: Thank you.

So the rooms are really-- you walk in and you feel like you're in the 1930s.

It's very period.

We still keep a radio in every room.

There's no TVs here, but we have internet because we're not total barbarians.

But, yeah.

But I made a beeline here.

So when I realized that this place was opening, I was like, OK, I need to be part of this.

I actually live on 66.

I sleep on 66.

I own a piece of 66 over at Red Oak too, which is another attraction.

And so yeah, I actually made a beeline here.

I said, you guys need me, and I need you.

They had the will and the funds.

And so I actually said, I need to be here.

So I actually quit my job at Hershey's and worked at The Boots.

JIM BAKER: So here you are, right?

And here I am.

JIM BAKER: Are you part of the Route 66 Association?

Yes, I'm a board member on the Route 66 Association.

We're actually having a meeting here-- a regional meeting here tomorrow And yeah, that's part of my passion, actually, not just a-- it was a hobby that became a passion.

It became my family, actually.

JIM BAKER: Yeah.

I was living in Northwest Arkansas not realizing that I was a road trip aficionado.

But when I moved to Red Oak too and told everybody I'm moving to a ghost town in a cornfield, they thought, well, maybe he's gone a little crazy.

Best decision I've ever made.

So now I live on 66 and I work on 66, so it's what I do.

So this is a working motel.

JEREMY MORRIS: Yes.

And so you're the manager.

You're kind of the Jack of all trades-- That's true.

JIM BAKER: --type person.

We do a lot of unglamorous stuff, too.

There's a lot of unclogging of toilets and that sort of thing.

But also PR, and this is not like a normal motel.

I mean, this is-- people come in here and this is partly show business.

You know, when people are traveling that route, I always tell people, that two lane there is not just pavement and they're not just seeking neon and they're not just going for the diners.

That is a delivery system to interesting people.

And they start figuring that out around the Ozarks.

That's when they start wanting to meet the folks.

Because there's a lot of characters you can meet on this route.

JIM BAKER: Right.

And we're part of the show.

On Route 66, they call me the Parson because I live in the parsonage at Red Oak, too.

So that's just part of the show.

So the original-- where you would check in originally was the older-- in the older facility.

Correct.

One year ago we had that as the original office.

It got a little cramped.

We were selling like two t-shirts and I was in a little desk there in the corner.

We've expanded.

So the Sinclair gas station, we decided to turn that into our check in and visitor center and gift shop.

Because we sell a lot of merchandise to people on the road.

People on 66, they want to support you and they want to take a souvenir home.

So we opened this up, and the original office next door is going to become like a mini museum.

So that's the first thing most people see.

About 90% of our traffic is route 66, and about 95% of them are going west.

They're going from Chicago to Santa Monica.

So they pull in, they see the sign, they see the office.

We want them to have a little museum there.

We can tell them who we are, and then they can come over here to check out.

Now that was originally a garage or-- It was a gas station.

It was called the Red Horse Service Station.

So Arthur-- he had that in the mid '30s.

I don't know the exact year.

But so the office is actually a little older than the rest of the building.

JIM BAKER: Yeah.

Yeah.

So what's the most-- I guess, what's your clientele, generally?

So I'd say about 30% of our guests are international, and I would say another 40% to 50% are out of state.

So we get a few locals, but it's rare.

It's mostly people from all over the world.

My guest book right now has about 60 different countries in it.

For the month of August, we had a lot of Italians.

They're traveling Route 66 because it's their travel season.

And so just yesterday on the same hour, I had people from Portugal, Spain, UK, Ireland, and Italy all in here at the same time.

JIM BAKER: Wow.

And Wisconsin-- a lot of Wisconsin.

I don't know why Wisconsin, but this month has been Wisconsin month.

Wisconsin is pretty exotic.

Yeah, it's so exotic.

And West Virginia, we had some of those too.

But.

So normally, the people-- do most of the international folks spend the night?

They spend the night and they know what this place is.

They already know the history.

They do their research.

So a lot of the international folks, they know the name Arthur Boots.

When they come to Red Oak, where I live, they actually know the names of our dogs.

We'll have people from Norway get off their bikes and they're like, where is Duke the dog?

And we have to show them the dog.

And like, how do you know him?

We see him on YouTube.

So they're really aficionados of 66.

It's always been amazing to me the impact that Route 66 has because I was in-- I was on a Chinese airline and I opened up a Chinese magazine.

Yes.

And there's this big article about Route 66.

Yes.

And I thought, whoa, this is-- It's worldwide.

And that's why we see people from all over the world.

And like I said, they're really educated and they're really into it.

It's ramping up even more as we get closer to the Centennial.

So 2026 is the 100th anniversary of that pavement.

And so when that hits, it's supposed to explode up maybe 300% more tourism.

So why do you think Route 66 has such a cultural impact?

Yeah, I think you get to see lots of different parts of America.

I think you get to see some big cities.

You get to see the desert you get to see the ocean, farmland, prairie, the Ozarks.

And people love this stretch.

They don't-- this stretch between Springfield and the Kansas border, we call that sometimes the graveyard because it has all these old gas stations and some little ghost town-type stuff-- Yeah.

--you know, the ruins in Plano, that sort of thing.

And people just are really interested in that, the history of 66.

Because 66 through to Missouri has a much broader history.

So that pavement was laid in '26, but through some parts of Missouri that was actually laid on top of wagon connector roads to the West.

Before that, it was Civil War roads.

Before that, it was Osage walking trails.

So that was laid by, you know, Native Americans maybe in the 18th century.

You know, I always thought there was a kind of a glamour involved in watching people go from-- of course the TV show and everything came about.

Oh yeah.

But there's a glamour about people moving, moving-- moving West.

Which is why most people go West.

JIM BAKER: Yeah.

That is the typical route.

People, they want to follow the trail of the Okies did, the Grapes of Wrath, the Okies and the Dokies actually, you know, from South Dakota.

So that is a big part of the allure.

And in fact, there's different, I would say, different types of tourists that some want to follow the old 1920s alignments.

Some want to follow the 1950s alignments.

Because a lot of people who are new to 66 don't realize there's multiple alignments and it's not just one road you can follow.

About 85% of it you can still drive.

But there are times you have to get off and you have to make decisions.

So like if you go to Santa Fe, you can go straight to Albuquerque, or you can go way off course to Santa Fe and you have to make a choice there.

I would choose the Santa Fe route.

[laughing] So let's talk a little bit about the preservation efforts.

That had to be quite an undertaking-- It is.

--from a-- just from a government regulatory.

Yes.

How do you-- you know, you were telling me about some of the many pages that you had to do.

Yeah.

So we listed the-- we got the motel listed on the National Register.

I think it was a 77 page document.

It got sent back once, but we finally got it through.

And of course, we had to-- you know, for instance, some of the carports are a little at an angle.

And our contractors thought, well, let's fix that.

We don't want to fix it.

We want it the same way Arthur and Lloyd built this thing.

You know, we want to keep it as authentic as we can, and that's why we kept the gas and glass neon.

That's real neon.

That's not led.

Yeah, and we'll take a look at the neon when it's dark.

Sure.

Oh yeah.

Absolutely.

It pops like a ice cream cone.

I mean, it's wonderful.

I get a real kick out of the window that you were telling me about.

It was kind of off kilter, just a little bit.

So in the-- yeah, so in the Clark Gable room, I think Louis and Arthur actually set some of the concrete in the rain, and so it sunk a little bit.

So you'll see in that room the window is a little off kilter.

Yeah, I can relate to that as a person who can't do very much around the house.

JEREMY MORRIS: Sure.

What are-- is there other unique features about the facility that you'd like to talk about.

Sure, actually, there's-- so we had a person come through here recently.

We have a lot of YouTubers and that sort of thing.

And he asked me the same question.

He said, is there anything unique to The Boots?

And I said, I want to show you the tunnel.

JIM BAKER: Oh yeah.

And so I took him in the tunnel.

Beneath The Boots in the 1946 building I was telling you about, you can go to the basement where the original carports were that you could park underneath your room.

And there is a tunnel that Arthur Boots built.

He was trying to invent an air conditioning system, and it didn't work.

But we have a tunnel now that goes from the back building all the way to Route 66, like a full city block almost.

And I can attest to the fact that the air conditioning didn't work.

It was very warm down there.

It's warm in there.

It's warm, exactly.

That's a interesting place.

And short, yeah.

But part of Room 13 is-- Sure.

--as they say so.

Yeah.

So when you did the preservation, how did you go about doing that?

Was it through-- as a foundation, right?

Yes, so The Boots Foundation, like I said, they're a nonprofit, so every dollar spent here goes right back into preservation.

Which is why we love when people stay here and buy the merch and that sort of thing.

It goes right back into it.

But it was a several year effort, and it's still ongoing.

I mean, we are currently working on green spaces.

We're currently working on new murals.

We have a new billboard that's going up between the buildings and a lane that connects them.

So we're still working on a lot of projects.

Is there a lot of local interest in, like, a facility like this, or-- Yes.

So I would say originally, I think a lot of people were a little skeptical and wondered why we're doing this.

And this place probably needs to be torn down and let's build a department store or something.

Now they're catching on.

They're seeing that not only are people coming here that, well, for one thing, they're not price conscious.

So they're spending money in town.

They're staying here.

They're eating here.

But there's a spread that's happening.

So Wanda, over at The Pancake Hut, I told her, Wanda, you don't need to be the home of the non-working coin box.

You need to get that Chicago coin box up and running.

So she put out some t-shirts and a donation box.

66ers are the most generous people on Earth.

And she got enough money to fix that up.

So now that's an attraction.

And the square is benefiting.

So our historic square, a lot of the restaurants now are catering towards our folks on 66.

I'm sure when Route 66 was built, people didn't really view it as a tourist attraction.

Not really.

So in '26, it was more just a way to get here and there.

And in fact, there was no really national system yet set up to get that pavement out there.

That's why there's some stretches, like in Miami, Oklahoma, that's only nine foot wide.

That's all they can afford.

They could afford enough concrete for nine feet.

JIM BAKER: Wow.

Yeah.

JIM BAKER: You have to have two small cars.

Right.

Well, it's a one lane.

So if you're playing chicken and another person is coming the other way, you have to get off on the grass.

It still exists.

I love the bridges.

The bridges are-- Yes.

--fun.

I mean, they're eye catching, architecturally.

Absolutely.

By the way, on speaking of architecture-- Sure.

--but what's the main architectural features?

I mean, it's a very unique looking building.

Yeah.

So The Boots, it's kind of an art deco style called Streamline Moderne.

Again, I don't think Arthur and Lloyd called it that.

They just had concrete blocks and a couple of brothers and they built it.

But it's kind of based between art deco and aircraft, you know, from World War II.

It's kind of that streamlined, simple style of lines.

So what do you think is the major cultural impact of maintaining these kinds of facilities along Route 66?

There's obvious economic impacts.

Sure.

There's a big economic impact.

But it's just-- there is definitely just a cultural impact of just preserving this stuff.

This is not just a Carthage site.

This is a worldwide site.

There's a book in Germany right now that we're on the cover of, you know, a Route 66 guide.

We have Australians that come through here and rent the whole building for the night.

So it's not just-- it's not just ours.

It belongs to everyone.

It's an important site.

It's not just a local motel.

So I was going to ask about the contribution to the legacy of Route 66.

It's pretty obvious that it's-- the more facilities that are along Route 66 that get restored-- Yes.

JIM BAKER: --the more tourists are-- Absolutely.

And every state kind of-- there's eight states on Route 66, and each one kind of has its own vibe and its own, you know, thing that they specialize in.

For instance, Illinois is the land of restored gas stations.

Missouri is the land of neon motels.

Oklahoma is the land of giants, so giant muffler man and giant space cowboys and giant blue whales, that sort of thing.

So our legacy here in Missouri is we have about four or five historic ma and pa boutique motels that we need to preserve.

Yeah, when you drive in, you can almost visualize a long day on the road, driving up into the little carport thing and getting in your room.

Absolutely.

We have a lot of families that do that still, just kind of recreate that '50s experience.

We have, just anecdotally, people from-- we had some people from London recently.

They shipped their 1932 Austin to Chicago, met it by plane, and then actually cranked it the entire way, going 45 miles per hour on the two lane, and they had to stay at The Boots, of course.

That's one of the stops.

So internationally, are there like Route 66 clubs or something like that?

I was thinking that had to be.

There's lots of associations.

So I'm a member, of course, on the board of directors of the Missouri Association, and each state has one.

But a lot of countries do too-- so Toshi Goto in Japan.

And you know, there's a German organization.

Czechoslovakia is mad about 66.

They're actually recreating some stops along 66 for their 66 festival there, full size.

Yeah, I'm just really intrigued by how much impact one little road has.

Yeah, it's a subculture.

It's also a family.

This is what I-- so today the Oklahoma Association President came over and gave me a sign for the Red Cedar Inn at Pacific, Missouri.

It's right there in the heart of the Ozarks.

It's the Route 66 sign.

Well, we don't ship UPS and FedEx.

We ship RDS, roadie delivery system.

So they delivered it to me.

And then somebody going to Saint Louis takes it to the next stop and delivers it to them.

So we just-- we're a family and we all talk with each other.

So like, what do you think the future of the motel is and-- JEREMY MORRIS: Sure.

--and Route 66 and all the things?

Since we restored it down to the bones, I think this place is going to last another 100 years easily.

I think 66 is going to grow at least to the Centennial.

And I think there's going to be an explosion of-- you're going to see a lot of 66 stuff in the media and there's even going to be some government involvement.

And then after that, I'm hoping they stick around and stay with us in the future.

Well, we're going to close the show with a really special treat.

You're going to perform for us.

JEREMY MORRIS: Oh, absolutely.

And give the story of The Boots, like, with music.

I can do that.

All right, here we go.

Ready, one, two, three.

(SINGING) At the crossroads of the Jefferson and Larue You can stay at The Boots You need to stay at The Boots Clark Gable stayed here in 1942 You know he stayed at The Boots He always stayed at The Boots So if you're on the route Just kick off your boots Radio in your room If you stay at The Boots Woo.

[kazoo and banjo playing] Thank you.

We'll be right back.

NARRATOR: Ozarks public television and Missouri State University are proud to present "OzarksWatch Video Magazine," a locally produced program committed to increasing the understanding of the richness and complexity of Ozarks culture.

Visit our website for more information.

I hope you enjoyed our stay at The Boots Court Motel.

And we'd like to thank our guest, Jeremy Morris, for showing us around and for his wonderful song.

Join us again next time for "OzarksWatch Video Magazine."

[music playing]