Lebanon (Missouri)

Lebanon is a city of 15,000 people (2019) in Central Missouri on the historic Route 66. It is a good base for exploring Bennett Spring State Park. As the home of several factories, it has been dubbed the "Aluminum Fishing Boat Capital of the World", a claim that has not been challenged by any other town.

Joe Knight Building

Lebanon was founded in 1849 and named after Lebanon (Tennessee), the home of many of its original settlers. I-44 bypassed Route 66 in this area in 1957.

During the heyday of the Mother Road, Lebanon had many independent motels and roadside businesses – some of which are now gone. The owners of a now-defunct Munger-Moss Sandwich Shop moved their business from Devil's Elbow to Lebanon at the end of World War II and added a motel in 1946 as their old location was to be completely bypassed by the new road. Oddly, their former location survived as the Elbow Inn (which is rebuilding after 2017 flooding) but the sandwich shop in Lebanon is now gone.

• Tourists information, 500 E. Elm Street, Cowan Civic Center, ☏ +1 844-4LEBANON (5322666). M-F 8AM-5PM. (updated Aug 2020)

From I-44, exit on Millcreek Road to return to Route 66.

• 🌍 Bennett Spring State Park, 26250 Hwy 64A, ☏ +1 417 532-4338. Dining lodge, campgrounds, cabins, hiking trails and a spring branch stocked daily with rainbow trout for fishing. 
• 🌍 Route 66 Museum (Laclede County Museum), 915 S. Jefferson (Inside the public library), ☏ +1 417-532-2148. M-Th 8AM-8PM, F Sa 8AM-5PM. The Laclede County Historical Society operates the historic jail (built in 1876, with living quarters for the sheriff added in 1913) as a museum. Free. 

• Alpaca Ranch: Whirlwind Ranch, 24649 Snowberry Dr., ☏ +1 417 533-5280, fax: +1 417-588-2636, lizm@webound.com. By appointment only. 
• High Prairie Bird Hunts, 15742 English Rd., ☏ +1 417 532-4734. Daily 8AM-8PM. In addition to trap, skeet and clays and bird hunting, there is also a catfish lake and archery ranges. 
• Midway Speedway, 22301 State Hwy B, ☏ +1 417 588-4430. Races and a swap meet. (updated Aug 2020)
• Ritz 8 Theatre, 925 S. Jefferson, ☏ +1 417 588-9724. Adults $8, seniors 62+ $6.50, children 3-11 $5.50. 
• Starlite Lanes, 1331 E Route 66, ☏ +1 417 532-4262. 

• Wrink's Market, 135 Wrinkle Ave, ☏ +1 417 532-3201. Small independent grocer who made sandwiches while you wait. Near the US66/Millcreek Road and I-44 crossroads. Established by Glen Wrinkle in 1950, it operated until his death (age 82) in 2005. His son re-opened it in 2007, but closed in 2009 during the Great Recession. For nostalgia's sake, his granddaughter re-opened it again in 2017 because some Route 66 traditions stubbornly refuse to die.