Along the famed Route 66, one of the historic stops was in Waynesville, Missouri. There were several places I wanted to see as I rode around the town square. Parking in front of an inviting white building, the Old Stagecoach Stop Museum, I saw a sign that stated that tours needed to be prearranged at set times. I made a note and thought I’d return another time.
As I walked around the square, I visited the Just Because gift shop. It was a little past closing time, but the woman running the store was sweet about letting us peruse it. They had a lot of fun/snarky items and a nice range of prices and gifts from magnets, towels, and soaps, to signs and wine and liquor. This was a definite return-to-Christmas-shop store.
There’s was a Theater on the Square with live performances priced as low as a movie ticket. I haven’t seen a live show in almost a year and I was curious about the upcoming show, “Aunt Cathie’s Cat”. I peeked in a Schnitzelhaus (Ursula’s, aka Paradise Deli) and it looked intriguing enough for a visit back another time when I hadn’t already had lunch. I later read happy reviews that confirmed my hunch.
Back at the car, in front of the museum, a man in period clothing sat on a bench. I had a glimmer of hope and yes, he had some time before the next scheduled group and graciously squeezed in an impromptu, abbreviated tour for us. Again, not only in Waynesville, but the people of Missouri just did the best they could for others. The museum visit was free, donations only.
We began in a front room that was the post office when the original hotel was built in the 1850s by William Walton McDonald who served as postmaster among other community roles. It was also a stop on the stagecoach route, handy for the mail, and which many years later placed it right along the famed Route 66. The building passed through the hands of several couples who owned and ran businesses there. Mrs. McDonald made food for guests and meals to take on the road. In that front room I saw my first pie safe.
Another room had a vast collection of maps, portraits and artifacts including a surgeon’s table that rested on barrels. At one point during the Civil War, the hotel was taken over and temporarily used as an Army hospital.
In the kitchen, a section of wall was left exposed to show the original, double-pen, log cabin structure. The rough, hand hewn logs showed a time when great effort was put into building by hand. The museum was designed to have different rooms mark different points in history with period furniture and appliances. The ice box in the kitchen was fully functional with a large block of ice in it.
One room served as a dentist office in the 1930s. It had the latest equipment for that time which included a vacuum pump to run the drill. The dentist had to travel to the next town to charge his lead acid batteries to run the equipment, since Waynesville did not have power at that time. It was suggested that people would have been wise to schedule their procedures early in the day while the batteries were fully charged.
Our host was knowledgeable, engaging and courteous. He answered our questions, made the tour fun and took pride in his job. I will be signing up for the full tour in the future, and not forget his kindness that day. The website for the Old Stagecoach Stop Museum is informative with photos, a map of the layout of the building, and a detailed history and description of the owners and the rooms.
Not only for my lack of a tour appointment, but I almost didn’t get to see the museum for a larger reason. The museum’s latest owner is the Old Stagecoach Stop Foundation. The building was vacant for years, run down and slated to be demolished after being condemned by the city. A group of concerned citizens formed the foundation and through a grant program and fundraising, saved, preserved and restored the museum to what it is today.
There are many places to return to in Waynesville and that’s only after a brief stop.