Historic Missouri Roadsides by Bill Hart

National Archives at Kansas City
Kansas City, MO

Historic Missouri Roadsides is a richly illustrated travel/history/photography book, consisting of six tours of Missouri on mostly two-lane roads and highways. Varying greatly in length, five of the seven tours mark their beginning points near Kansas City and St. Louis, making the tours attractive to Missouri ''staycationers'' who are eager to get out of the city.

One tour is traveled almost exclusively on Missouri Route 79. Dubbed the River Road tour, the route along Highway 79 closely follows the Mississippi River north from St. Charles County to Lewis County, near the Iowa border. A second tour which closely follows the Mississippi River is El Camino Real, which travels along US Highway 61 southward from Jefferson County to New Madrid in the Missouri Bootheel. The Platte Purchase tour begins in St. Joseph Missouri and heads north and east through all of the counties of the purchase which completed the map of Missouri in 1853 and then some, traveling to Unionville in north central Missouri. Places to eat/drink, visit/shop and stay are listed in the book and include only small, Missouri-owned businesses. Don't look for McDonald's here - only real places owned by real people and keeping it local. This book is richly illustrated with photographs by the author and post cards and mementos from his personal collection. Presented in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council.

Reservations are requested for this free program by calling 816-268-8010 or emailing kansascity.educate@nara.gov. Requests for ADA accommodations must be submitted five business days prior to events.