A LONELY STRETCH OF ROAD

Drivin' down old Route 66 I was on the lookout for a place I had seen pictures of in books and on TV. We had actually driven this way before but could not find the old motor inn of John's Modern Cabins. On our second trip we were drivin' along and I just happened to look over in a area that was not that far off the interstate, you can actually see the cars whizzin' by on I-44. There they were, in a place where there doesn't seem to be anything. We had to turn off of the current Rt. 66 and drive about 200 feet to an old stretch of the original Mother Road.


Just a small stretch of lonely neglected road.

With 6 small primitive log cabins.

Here sits John's Modern Cabins.

Or, what's left of them.

Here they sit with their old broken, faded neon sign.

Just a small log cabin that back in the 1930's, if you were travelin' late and needed a place to stay, these were the newest, most modern, rooms for a night available out there. All the modern conveniences available, with two, outhouses out back.

John's Modern Cabins are located about 10 miles east of Rolla near the old town of Newburg.

At their beginnin' the cabins flanked a shotgun shack, which is a type of dance hall or juke joint, back in the 1930's.

I'm sure it must have been a little bit rowdy with all the goin' ons that a shotgun shack provides but hey, with all the modern conveniences, you were willin' to overlook a little noise, right? But if you were by chance spendin' the night of Halloween 1935, you probably got a little more excitement than you bargained for. That was the night that a 22 year old man shot and killed his 18 year old estranged wife and wounded two others in the dance hall's fireplace room.

The roadside inn and shotgun shack later sold to a couple, the John Dausch's, who were from Chicago, in 1951. The place sold for a mere $5000, but back in the 50's, that was a tidy sum.
This is when the cabins received their current name of John's Modern Cabins.

Improvements to the old Rt. 66 caused the business to now be located off of the main road. The shotgun shack was abandoned. A large log cabin was built to house a laundry/snack bar. The owner sold illegal beer on Sunday which earned him the nickname 'Sunday John'.

With the arrival of Interstate 44, business dried up and the motor inn shut down.

This is all that remains. Just some lonely little modern log cabins.

Can you imagine the stories this place has associated with it. I wish there was some kind of time capsule for all these old buildin's along the old highway. I mean you can see them and check 'em out but there's no one left to tell about the history or stories or people involved throughout the years. Just what you can read in books or on the net.

Here between two crumblin' cabins you can see one of the outhouses. It's good to see that they kept 'em in good shape, I mean, they are still standin' better than the cabins.

Can you imagine, traipsin' out in the middle of the night to take a pee? Two outhouses to share between 6 cabins and maybe that meant the shotgun shack too. I bet those ol' one seaters were kept busy. They don't look big enough to be two seaters. For those of you who may not know what I'm talkin' about, most outhouses were either one or two seaters. Yep, if you had a two seater, you could be in there with another person, doin' your business at the same time. Very convenient AND modern!

Actually when I was a kid we moved to a farm that had no runnin' water or bathroom in it. I remember usin' the outhouse and makin' my little sister go out with me at night (I was soooo bossy), and that was 1964! Remember we are talkin' about the Ozarks here.

So I can totally relate to those night time motorists who were lucky enough to be stayin' at John's Modern Cabins.

Hopefully if you get to travel down old Route 66 sometime, maybe the cabins will still be there. I did read somewhere that the current owners want to tear down the cabins, but so far they've left 'em standin'. Just another piece of our history, our roots, gone forever.

Just memories, down a lonely stretch of road.

Youn's come back dreckly now, ya hear?

Rebel