Just before the Kansas border (4.9 miles after the Route 66 Bar and Grill listing on p.
79, column 3), there is a turnoff to follow
old Route 66 into Galena.
I missed it, following the newer, divided four lane alignment. I headed into
Galena, and took a right within Galena (off Main). I found an eastbound HISTORIC
ROUTE 66 sign, and realized that this was the old route into Galena which I missed on the
Missouri side. It was shown in Michael Wallis' 1995 video, and I wanted to see the
sweeping bridge into Galena (right).
I followed the old route east just a short distance, probably only a mile or so.
Knowing I was on the bridge, I went ahead just enough to take some good videotape of the
bridge after I turned around and headed back over it, westbound. We then continued
back on this old route, turning left, then right onto Main (KS 66), meeting back up with
the newer alignment. We didn't get a chance to visit the Galena Museum, we stopped
at another Sonic Drive-In to eat. (Now that I know, next time I will stop at Eisler Bros.
Store in Riverton!).
We crossed the Spring River, and I remembered seeing photos of
the Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge, taken down in 1986. We followed Bob Moore's book
precisely (page 70), finding an old alignment in Riverton, and the Old Rainbow Arch Bridge
(left), and continuing on to Baxter Springs. At 12.8 miles of Route 66, we left
Kansas and entered Oklahoma following 69A.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, April 13, 2005