Route 66 Information Center / Springfield History Museum
Route 66 Information Center
My first stop was at the Route 66 Tourist Information Center located downtown. I can't say I was impressed!
Springfield History Museum
1. Location: Located in downtown Springfield right on the square. There is very limited parking on the side streets and I wouldn't count on getting one of these spots. There is a free public parking lot located behind the history museum so you will have to walk a block. I don't think you will mind because you are probably going to walk around anyway to look at the shops, historical markers and restaurants.
2. Call before you go! I was told the exhibits rotate and between the exhibits there is just a mess until they get the next one set up. Only a very small portion of the museum seemed to be permanent displays and the vast majority seemed to the current exhibit. Call and make sure the current exhibit is something you would be interested in as well. When I was there it was the history of Springfield's city parks. It was very dry..... I got there about 3:00pm and I was the first person to sign the guest log that day. A lot of old black and white pictures of city parks, old little league uniforms from teams that no longer exsist and few people would be interested in unless they had a connection to a relative. The most interesting thing on the display was some old amusement park equipment one of the parks used to have. Don't lose all hope though!!!! The next exhibit scheduled is going to be about Route 66, I have hopes this will be a lot more interesting.
My first stop was at the Route 66 Tourist Information Center located downtown. I can't say I was impressed!
- Location: Horrible! Located in downtown Springfield. It is located in the bottom corner of a parking garage, but despite this it is still not convenient to get to. The parking lot across the street is owned by a hotel with lots of signs up saying if you are not a guest they will tow your vehicle. This leaves the next closest parking to the information center at the parking garage in which it is located. Because of a booth at the entrance it appears as if they charge you to park there, but parking is free except when there is a special event going on in the area. There are lots of open spaces at the entrance which you cannot park in because they are all reserved spaces. It was a Wednesday when I was there and the entire bottom level of the parking lot was full. The closest space I could was on the second level at the very back of the parking lot. This was the closest space because I parked near the stairs to get down to the first level. From here to get to the Information Center I had to walk down a flight of stairs to the first level, about a block through the bottom level of the parking garage, go out the entrance of the parking garage and around the front to the corner to go into the information center. I don't mind walking, but for elderly or guests with health problems this could be a issue. Also if you were traveling Route 66 in a motor home I'm not sure where you would find parking!
- Not much there! They have brochures, the same ones you will find at other tourist information centers and hotel lobbies. About 1/4 of the information center is made to look like a Route 66 Diner. There are a handful of memorabilia items, but nothing impressive.
Springfield History Museum
1. Location: Located in downtown Springfield right on the square. There is very limited parking on the side streets and I wouldn't count on getting one of these spots. There is a free public parking lot located behind the history museum so you will have to walk a block. I don't think you will mind because you are probably going to walk around anyway to look at the shops, historical markers and restaurants.
2. Call before you go! I was told the exhibits rotate and between the exhibits there is just a mess until they get the next one set up. Only a very small portion of the museum seemed to be permanent displays and the vast majority seemed to the current exhibit. Call and make sure the current exhibit is something you would be interested in as well. When I was there it was the history of Springfield's city parks. It was very dry..... I got there about 3:00pm and I was the first person to sign the guest log that day. A lot of old black and white pictures of city parks, old little league uniforms from teams that no longer exsist and few people would be interested in unless they had a connection to a relative. The most interesting thing on the display was some old amusement park equipment one of the parks used to have. Don't lose all hope though!!!! The next exhibit scheduled is going to be about Route 66, I have hopes this will be a lot more interesting.
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