Route 66 - Spencer, Missouri

 

Congratulations on making it to Spencer, Missouri, a real-life ghost town. Although Spencer was never much more than a 'wide place in the road', it actually had people and a post office in the late 1870s. The local population was nearly all connected with agriculture, and Spencer gained a church and a general store to cater to them.

However, less than forty years later, the road became unusable, and the town more or less emptied - at least for a while. By the late 1920s, when Route 66 was constructed to pass by the derelict buildings, the town reopened for business, with two shops - one grocery, one dry goods - a barber, a garage, and a Tydol station. The second death of Spencer occurred when Route 66 was bypassed by I-44. Until recently, the whole town was a row of vacant premises left over from the still rather quiet heyday of the 1920s.

In recent years, the site has been purchased by the Ryan family - bought from the Caseys, who first owned the land the 'town' was built on in 1925. The gas station has been restored, and although non-operational, it is full of authentic memorabilia of the period it was first constructed, including a vintage police car parked in front. Spencer never required or got its own police station, but it's a nice touch.