The business directory contains web pages for Route 66 businesses and other attractions.

Boots Motel

Carthage, Missouri

Boots Court as it was originally known
Early postcard of "Boots Court"

The Boots Motel (as it is currently known) was established in the 1930s by a Mr. Arthur Boots, and still stands as an example of the Streamline and Art Deco design influences so prevalent in that period. Just across Garrison, the Boots Drive-In was built a few years later and today has been rehabilitated as a credit union. The corner of Central and Garrison Avenues was also the junction of U.S. 66 and U.S. 71, and was nicknamed the “Crossroads of America.” In the 1950s, there was even a daily radio broadcast airing from the Boots Drive-In called Breakfast at the Crossroads of America.

The Boots no longer operates as an overnight motel, and it's been only a heartbeat away from the wrecking ball for years now. The current owner acquired the property as an investment, hoping to re-sell it quickly for re-development, but the deal fell through and the motel received a sort of “stay of execution.” How long that will last, no one can say.

Boots Drive-In
Comparison between Boots Drive-In as pictured in postcard (above) and the building as it looks today (below).

About Boots Motel
Business Type: Hotel/Motel
Owner(s):
Address: 107 S. Garrison Ave., Carthage, MO 64836
Telephone: 417.358.9453
Web site:
Directions: Corner of W. Central and S. Garrison. See also our GPS-based Clickable G-Maps.

 

Return to Business Directory Page