Camp Joy on Route 66 was started in 1927 by Charles and Lida Spears with the help of their son Emis and his wife Lois. After leaving Nebraska in 1927, the Spears traveled Route 66 from Arizona eastward looking for a good place to establish a tourist camp, counting out-of-state cars at various points along the way before choosing Lebanon. Camp Joy began as a tent camp with fees of 50 cents per night, then the tents were replaced by 10' x 42' frame cabins furnished with a double bed, wall-mounted folding table, 2 straight-back chairs, a kerosene cook stove, and a wood-burning pot-bellied stove for heat. These early cabins cost $1.00 to $1.50 per night. Arranged in a park-like setting, the cabins surrounded a central bathhouse, store, and service station. Over the years the cabins were modernized, with parking garages adjoining some, and when vehicles outgrew these garages, they too were remodeled to provide extra lodging units. After World War II, during the golden years of travel on Route 66, Camp Joy was renamed Joy Motel. In 2019, the last existing cabin was donated by Lee Sing to the Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society, which restored it and, with the help of the City of Lebanon, moved it to Boswell Park.
