Route 66 State Park

where we are tonite

We felt we should leave the casino parking lot, so we found a state park that was open about 30 miles west from where we were so we moved there.  After we got checked in and set up we discovered there is another state park very near here.. that one is Route 66 State Park.  So we headed over to that park to see what we missed out on.  We will explore Babler State Park tomorrow.



Inside the museum



That park was the site of a small town named Times Beach, a summer resort community.  In 1972-1976 the struggling town hired someone to spray oil on the dirt roads to control dust.  It was determined in 1982 that this oil was contaminated with dangerous levels of dioxin.  Also that year the town got flooded.  The entire town of about 2,000 was quarantined, and nobody could return to their homes, ever.  In 1996 and 1997 the government removed 265,000 tons of contaminated soil, built a big incinerator here, incinerated all the contaminated soil, and dismantled the incinerator.   The EPA says it's safe now, and the state of Missouri has turned it in to the Route 66 State Park which opened in 1999.  There is a very nice visitor center and museum there with a big gift shop filled with everything Route 66.  There is a section of the original Rt 66 and a bridge in the park.