A “Birthplace of Route 66 Plaza” is planned for downtown Springfield, Missouri, at the spot where local highway officials chose No. 66 for the Chicago-to-Los Angeles highway.
The spot at Jefferson Avenue at Park Central East is the former site of the long-gone Colonial Hotel. That’s where transportation officials chose No. 66 for the highway and sent a telegram in April 1926 to Washington, D.C., to confirm their decision to federal officials. U.S. 66 became official by November of that year.
Missouri State University owned the tract for parking, but it donated it to the city last week for the Route 66 project…