Galena, Kansas was settled in 1877 after the discovery of lead ore that gave the town its name. It…read morequickly grew into part of the Tri-State Mining District, where lead and zinc fueled decades of prosperity before the industry collapsed in the mid-20th century. Today, Galena has reinvented itself as a Route 66 destination. With a population of about 3,000, the city highlights its mining heritage through the Galena Mining and Historical Museum while welcoming travelers with attractions like Cars on the Route, Pappy Litch Park, and the Giant Drive-Thru Shield. It's a small town that blends history with roadside Americana, offering both nostalgia and renewed energy along the Mother Road. I enjoyed my visit and look forward to a return during a warmer weather season to more properly explore. [Review 1511 of 2025 - 48 in Kansas - 25062 overall]

The city of Joplin is a nice sized town for a small town community!…read moreIt is near the borders of Kansas and Oklahoma! I remember Joplin being a pit stop for my family driving from Kansas City to Coffeyville!!! Joplin's history is the famous Route 66 and the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde!! There were zinc and lead mining back in the day as well! Fast forward to May 22, 2011, Joplin had a devastating EF-5 Tornado that went thru their town. They made headlines on their coming together and rebuilding their community. For a small town, it has many restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, shopping, hardware stores, churches, and much more. It's a short drive to Springfield for another option! I've enjoyed my visit! The people are very friendly. The town is beautiful.

At the beginning of the race I was Joplin for position. But now I'm just glad to still be in the…read morerace. A very long time ago I had a very good friend in Joplin. He arranged for me to play my first concert in the city and it seems like the whole town showed up. Afterwards I spent part of the night canoodling with a beautiful spectacular girl who I still think about to this day. It was one of those magical nights and I have never forgotten it. Not long after my visit my friend passed away. It's very confusing and complicated but it was ruled a suicide. It was pretty grisly and horrible. I still have good friends that live here but there is a shadow over the town and my heart ever since. Then a couple of months later a devastating tornado wiped out a huge portion of the town and caused many casualties. There will always be a special place in my heart for Joplin and someday I look forward to my return.

I asked a girl from here for her carthage, carthsex, and carthlocation…read more Carthage is a decent-size city just to the east of Joplin. It's sort of a suburb but it really is a town unto itself. It's not as big or diverse as Joplin but it has a similar feel and Small Town Missouri has its charm - and Carthage exudes that. I've been here several times now and I'm sure I'll be here again before long.

a fantastic stop along Route 66. They put a fun twist on a old Texaco filling station from 1939…read more Walking in your made to feel like your family. It's filled with unique finds. They make it family friendly with characters from Cars. And in the upcoming months adding a personalized Muffler Man

Great stop on Route 66 in the small town of Galena! Cool photo ops, shirts, and the owners are…read moresuper nice! Bring a license plate for the wall. They also host local photoshoots and events. We stop here every time we drive by on Route 66. Veteran owned

Really neat little "Town". Lots of really neat things to look at. Truly a work of art. Beautiful…read morenostalgia. Check out all the details.

We found Red Oak II while out on a drive, one afternoon while visiting the area…read more This intentionally built community is the brain child of the late Americana artist, Lowell Dean. Built during the late 1980s, Dean bought, disassembled and moved the bulk of the buildings onto the property, and reassembled them board by board in their present locations. The blacksmith shop, along with a pharmacy, gas station and others. The most recent addition in 2014, a train station moved onto the property, complete with an HO scale locamotive, with coal car and cabosse out front on tracks. There are a few pre civil war structures on the property as well. The gallery houses Deans works over the decades, some of his original paintings, along with prints, figurines, posters, stickers, and collectibles. His wife, Rose is there most days and is friendly and knowledgeable on his work, life and building red oak 2. 4 Stars worth your time and effort, a photographers dream and if you like things americana and quirky 01314

Rainbow Bridge is another famous bridge that my eldest daughter and I visited while driving through…read moreKansas during our Route 66 Centennial Celebration road trip in June 2026. Per Google, "It is the last remaining bridge of its specific Marsh arch design left on the entire route of historic U.S. Route 66. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places." We found a post on one end of the bridge where visitors left their stickers. I didn't know placing stickers at iconic spots was a thing in the Midwest. Otherwise, I would have bought some stickers to leave behind. Oh well. Even though I didn't leave a sticker, I at least got to capture some interesting stickers on camera. The best sticker found here says it all... "Live A Great Story". Nothing much to do here really. Just a very short stop to see the bridge, drive and walk across it, capture a quick photo, and check out the stickers.

I left a review on the restaurant that is currently in this building. I didn't realize there was a…read moreyelp page for this building. But the current Italian restaurant is great. Look them up for my full review. It's called Teresina's.