Baxter Springs, KS Road Trips

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.

1 Baxter Springs Heritage Center and Museum, 740 East Ave, ☏ +1 620 856-2385. Apr 23-Oct 31: Tu-Sa 10:30AM-4:30PM; Su 1PM-4:30PM. Nov 1-Apr 22: Sa 10:30AM-4:30PM; Su 1PM-4:30PM. 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. 2 Baxter Springs Independent Oil and Gas Service Station, 940 Military Ave, ☏ +1 620 856-2066. 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. 3 Soldiers' Lot, Baxter Springs City Cemetery, US 166 West (2 mi (3.2 km) west of US 66). A place of burial and Civil War memorial for those who fought in the 1863 Battle of Baxter Springs.

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

1 El Cabrito, 2135 Military Ave, ☏ +1 620-856-3733. Mexican, steakhouse. 2 Route 66 Soda Fountain, 1136 Military Ave, ☏ +1 620 856-5520. 3 Weston's Route 66 Café, 1737 Military, ☏ +1 620-856-4414. Rebuilt/reopened after an April 27, 2014 EF2 tornado hit.

1 Baxter Inn, 2451 Military Ave, ☏ +1 620 856-2106, [email protected]. Riverside Park, US Route 166, south side, at east edge of Baxter Springs, ☏ +1 620 856-2112, fax: +1 620 856-5483. 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. $5/tent, $10/RV.

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.