Day 82 The Ultimate USA road trip St Louis Jefferson City
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RouteXpert René Plücken (MRA Master)
Last edit: 19-10-2023
Route Summary I have further supplemented the Road Trip with even more special points that you can visit in the USA. Today we drive from St. Louis through beautiful Missouri to Jefferson City. It is a ride of almost 470 kilometers, with a number of beautiful stops.
We drive on beautiful provincial roads, including the MO-21, which is part of the “Ozark Run Scenic Byway” through the St. Francois Mountains. There are stops at museums and a number of photo stops planned, I rate this route 5 stars.
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Animation
Verdict
Duration
11h 53m
Mode of travel
Car or motorcycle
Distance
468.84 km
Countries
RouteXpert Review Jefferson Barracks served as a staging point for troops and supplies en route to service in the Seminole Wars, the Mexican War, the Civil War, several Indian Wars in the West, the Spanish-American War, and World Wars I and II. Jefferson Barracks also served as the first basic training site for the US Army Air Corps during World War II.
Jefferson Barracks contains several buildings remaining from the 19th century, such as an 1851 Laborer's House and Ordnance Stable, an 1878 visitors center, and two powder storage bunkers that stored postal ammunition. The old powder storage bunkers are now used as free museums, open Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Built in 1851, the Ordnance Room features exhibits on specific aspects of Jefferson Barracks and American military history.
In 1971, Jefferson Barracks County Historic Park, the adjacent active Missouri National Guard Base, and other adjacent parcels were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park grounds are located in southern St. Louis County, on bluffs overlooking the Mighty Mississippi.
In the Jefferson Barracks County Park we visit three beautiful museums; The Telephone Museum, The POW-MIA Museum and the Missouri Civil War Museum. The museums are within walking distance of each other.
The Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum is housed in a beautifully restored 1896 building and features an extensive collection of telephones, telephone-related equipment and memorabilia. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
In addition to the extensive collection of telephones manufactured between the late 19th century and 2012, the Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum also contains:
• A central office stair switch.
• Control panels from the 1920s and 1960s.
• Military telephones from World War I through the Gulf War.
• Hundreds of telephone related equipment and tools.
• A telephone pole complete with climbing equipment.
• Hundreds of telephone related memorabilia from the 1880s through the 2000s.
• A wide variety of new phones.
• A statue of Alexander Graham Bell and replicas of his 1876 Liquid Transmitter and his 1877 First Commercial Telephone.
The second museum is the Jefferson Barracks POW-MIA Museum, which honors all those who served in the United States military, were captured by enemies of the United States, or went missing in action in any year or conflict.
The third and final museum is the Missouri Civil War Museum, which is the state's premier Civil War museum, dedicated to honoring the thousands of men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. Through the weapons, equipment, artifacts, and uniforms of those who lived during the defining moment in United States history.
After lunch in Hillsboro we drive south to the “Big River” near “Washington State Park”, the starting point of “The Ozark Run Scenic Byway”. This “Byway” runs approximately 25 km west on MO-8 to Courtois Creek in Berryman, we will not drive this part. We drive south on MO-21 through the St. Francois Mountains and the historic towns of Caledonia, Pilot Knob, Ironton and Arcadia. The “Byway” ends at the “Black River” in Lesterville. This approximately 60-mile drive through small towns and wilderness connects many of Missouri's scenic and historic highlights and provides access to numerous recreational opportunities.
There is an option to visit the Missouri Mines State Historic Site located at Federal Mill No. 3 in Park Hills. For this we leave the “Byway”. This site processed lead and zinc ore that had been mined in the immediate area for decades. The site's old energy building features a geological and mining history museum and an interpretive center that focuses on the state's historic Old Lead Belt.
The factory was built by the Federal Lead Co. in 1906-1907 and then purchased by competitor St. Joseph Lead Company in 1923. The mill was decommissioned in 1972 as much of the area's ore had been mined and major operations moved west. In 1975, the land was donated to the state of Missouri for recreational use.
After this visit we drive to Caledonia where we return to the “Byway”. Along the route, you can visit “Elephant Rocks State Park,” a state-owned geological reserve and public recreation area that includes an outcrop of Precambrian granite in the Saint Francois Mountains. The state park is named after a series of large granite boulders that resemble a train of pink circus elephants. The park was created following the donation of the land to the state in 1967 by geologist Dr. John Stafford Brown. The park is used for picnicking, rock climbing and hiking. It is managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
In Lesterville the “Ozarks Run Scenic Byway” ends and we continue the drive on the winding MO-49 and MO-32 through the Mark Twain Forest north to the town of Steelville where we stop for a drink and something to eat at “Rich's Famous Burgers ”.
We stopped briefly to take a photo at the Snelson-Brinker House, which was a historic home near Steelville. It was built in 1834 by Levi Lane Snelson and sold to John B. Brinker in 1837. Later that year, the property was the site of the murder of Brinker's two-year-old daughter Vienna, for which the slave Mary was executed, making her the youngest person in Missouri history to be executed.
The house was extensively renovated in the late 1980s. The grounds include the timber and frame smokehouse and a cellar (c. 1880), a cast iron pump (c. 1910), an open field beyond which is a cemetery with graves dating from the 1830s. The property was eventually operated by the “St. James Historical Preservation Society” as a historic house museum.
The Snelson-Brinker House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, but burned down on July 4, 2017, due to vandalism.
The last stop is planned at “Maramec Spring Park”, this is one of the most beautiful places in Missouri. The park contains the fifth largest spring in the state. An average of 100 million liters of water flows from the source every day. The park includes 1,860 hectares of forest and fields. The 200 hectare public area of the park offers many facilities and activities for visitors, including a café, shop, camping, wildlife watching, fish feeding areas, picnicking, playgrounds and fishing spots.
We drive via “Missouri State Route 66” to the end point of the day in Jefferson City. This city has a lot to offer its visitors; historic sites, vibrant art and dinner theaters and shopping fun. The tree-lined streets of downtown are full of trendy boutiques and unique shops, while the surrounding areas are home to casual storefronts and antique shops.
The history of Jefferson City can be studied through various works of art on display throughout the city. The Missouri State Capitol has some of the country's finest collections, including the famous Thomas Hart Benton murals. For a somber perspective, visit the Missouri State Penitentiary Museum to view original artwork and paintings by talented inmates. The nightlife offers live music, comedy shows and more.
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Preferably use the route track in your navigation system. More information about the use of MyRoute-app can be found on the website under 'Community' or 'Academy'.
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Missouri
About this region
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska to the west. In the south are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center into the Mississippi River, which makes up the eastern border. With more than six million residents, it is the 19th-most populous state of the country. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia; the capital is Jefferson City.
Humans have inhabited what is now Missouri for at least 12,000 years. The Mississippian culture, which emerged at least in the ninth century, built cities and mounds before declining in the 14th century. When European explorers arrived in the 17th century, they encountered the Osage and Missouria nations. The French incorporated the territory into Louisiana founding Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764. After a brief period of Spanish rule, the United States acquired Missouri as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South, including enslaved African Americans, rushed into the new Missouri Territory. Missouri was admitted as a slave state as part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Many from Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee settled in the Boonslick area of Mid-Missouri. Soon after, heavy German immigration formed the Missouri Rhineland.
Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States, as memorialized by the Gateway Arch. The Pony Express, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail and California Trail all began in Missouri. As a border state, Missouri's role in the American Civil War was complex, and it was subject to rival governments, raids, and guerilla warfare. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became centers of industrialization and business. Today the state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis.
Missouri's culture blends elements of the Midwestern and Southern United States. It is the birthplace of the musical genres ragtime, Kansas City jazz and St. Louis blues. The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue, and the lesser-known St. Louis-style barbecue, can be found across the state and beyond. Missouri is a major center of beer brewing and has some of the most permissive alcohol laws in the U.S. It is home to Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest beer producer, and produces an eponymous wine produced in the Missouri Rhineland and Ozarks. Outside the state's major cities, popular tourist destinations include the Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake and Branson.
Well-known Missourians include Chuck Berry, Sheryl Crow, Walt Disney, Edwin Hubble, Nelly, Brad Pitt, Harry S. Truman, and Mark Twain. Some of the largest companies based in the state include Cerner, Express Scripts, Monsanto, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, H&R Block, Wells Fargo Advisors, Centene Corporation, and O'Reilly Auto Parts. Well-known universities in Missouri include the University of Missouri, Saint Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis. Missouri has been called the "Mother of the West" and the "Cave State", but its most famous nickname is the "Show Me State".
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Humans have inhabited what is now Missouri for at least 12,000 years. The Mississippian culture, which emerged at least in the ninth century, built cities and mounds before declining in the 14th century. When European explorers arrived in the 17th century, they encountered the Osage and Missouria nations. The French incorporated the territory into Louisiana founding Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764. After a brief period of Spanish rule, the United States acquired Missouri as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South, including enslaved African Americans, rushed into the new Missouri Territory. Missouri was admitted as a slave state as part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Many from Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee settled in the Boonslick area of Mid-Missouri. Soon after, heavy German immigration formed the Missouri Rhineland.
Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States, as memorialized by the Gateway Arch. The Pony Express, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail and California Trail all began in Missouri. As a border state, Missouri's role in the American Civil War was complex, and it was subject to rival governments, raids, and guerilla warfare. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became centers of industrialization and business. Today the state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis.
Missouri's culture blends elements of the Midwestern and Southern United States. It is the birthplace of the musical genres ragtime, Kansas City jazz and St. Louis blues. The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue, and the lesser-known St. Louis-style barbecue, can be found across the state and beyond. Missouri is a major center of beer brewing and has some of the most permissive alcohol laws in the U.S. It is home to Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest beer producer, and produces an eponymous wine produced in the Missouri Rhineland and Ozarks. Outside the state's major cities, popular tourist destinations include the Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake and Branson.
Well-known Missourians include Chuck Berry, Sheryl Crow, Walt Disney, Edwin Hubble, Nelly, Brad Pitt, Harry S. Truman, and Mark Twain. Some of the largest companies based in the state include Cerner, Express Scripts, Monsanto, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, H&R Block, Wells Fargo Advisors, Centene Corporation, and O'Reilly Auto Parts. Well-known universities in Missouri include the University of Missouri, Saint Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis. Missouri has been called the "Mother of the West" and the "Cave State", but its most famous nickname is the "Show Me State".
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Route Collections in this region Ultimate USA road trip part 09
Michel van Hagen challenged me to follow the Roadtrip of Dr. Randy Olsen as a basis to create the Ultimate USA Road Trip for the MyRoute app RouteXpert Library. I took up that challenge and started in February 2022.
The scientist Dr. Randy Olsen, who became known for using his knowledge of algorithms to find 'Waldo' in the well-known American 'Where's Waldo' book series, has been challenged by Tracy Staedter, from Discovery News, to use the same algorithm to create the perfect Road Trip by creating the US, which will visit almost every state in the US. Alaska and Hawaii are not included in this Road Trip due to their geographical location.
The following three requirements formed the basis of the route: In all 48 countries there must be at least one stop at famous points, monuments, historical sites, national parks, etc. I have added additional interesting points, beautiful tours and routes.
After more than 26 months, the job is finished and, with a lot of support from Nick Carthew, I have created 129 routes that run through the 48 states of the USA and part of Canada. This is the ninth collection that takes you from Springfield in ten days through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin to Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
The scientist Dr. Randy Olsen, who became known for using his knowledge of algorithms to find 'Waldo' in the well-known American 'Where's Waldo' book series, has been challenged by Tracy Staedter, from Discovery News, to use the same algorithm to create the perfect Road Trip by creating the US, which will visit almost every state in the US. Alaska and Hawaii are not included in this Road Trip due to their geographical location.
The following three requirements formed the basis of the route: In all 48 countries there must be at least one stop at famous points, monuments, historical sites, national parks, etc. I have added additional interesting points, beautiful tours and routes.
After more than 26 months, the job is finished and, with a lot of support from Nick Carthew, I have created 129 routes that run through the 48 states of the USA and part of Canada. This is the ninth collection that takes you from Springfield in ten days through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin to Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
View Route Collection