You can bet your boots that this is one of the best motels in Route 66. Boots Court Motel in Carthage, Missouri has been an icon of The Mother Road since 1939.
Boots Court Motel opened in Carthage, Missouri in 1939 and it is one of the oldest operating motels on Route 66.
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The motel was conceived by Arthur Boots and was designed in a Streamline Moderne style, an international style of Art Deco that was inspired by aerodynamic design and emphasized curving forms and long horizontal lines. The roofline and walls feature accents of black Carrara glass and green neon that accent the curves of the building.
Arthur and Ilda Boots opened the Boots Court in 1939, inspired by his older brother opening Boots Cottage Court in Eldon. With four guest rooms (later expanded to eight) and a service station turned front office each room promised an adjoining carport and a “Radio in Every Room.” A night at Boots Court would set you back $2.50, which, at the time, was a premium price!
It was such a lovely motel that it even attracted several celebrity stays from the likes of Clark Gable, Mickey Mantle, and Gene Autry in its heyday.
Through the years, the motel was passed on to several owners and expanded with an add-on building and more rooms. Soon only a few rooms were available for rent and for a time it operated as low-income housing. By 2011 the motel was listed as one of the ten most endangered roadside attractions in America by the Society for Commercial Archaeology and one of the most endangered buildings in the state by Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation.
In 2021 when the property was once again listed on the market, the non-profit Boots Court Foundation was established to prevent further decline and reinvigorate the property. Even the gas station next door was turned into a reception area and Visitors Center for those spending the night or not.
In 2022 The Boots Court was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and today the Boots Court is fully open, with 13 rooms available to Route 66 travelers who want to spend the night in a historic property.
The rooms are furnished and decorated to be period-appropriate to the 1930s and 40s when the motel first opened its doors. Find art deco headboards and chenille bedspreads in the meticulously renovated rooms.
While you won’t find televisions (they weren’t available until the mid-1950s) you can get WiFi (even though that wasn’t originally available in the 40s). And, of course, there is still a “radio in every room.”
Photos of Boots Court Motel in Carthage, Missouri
