In less than 14 miles, Kansas Historic Route 66 connects Galena, Riverton, and Baxter Springs, three towns that were poised for success when the highway was designated in 1926. Galena was a major hub in one of the largest mineral extraction operations in the world, and its largest employer, the Eagle Picher Smelter, was one of the nation’s largest lead and zinc refineries. To the east, the Empire District Electric Company’s Riverton Generation Station supplied electricity to 80 communities and the entire tri-state mining industry, while Riverton also featured a country club and the Spring River Inn on the banks of the newly created Lake Lowell. Baxter Springs, once known as Kansas’ First Cow Town, had already remade itself as a center for mining offices and their executives’ families, with ordinances that strictly limited mining within the corporate limits and made it a refuge from the industry for many local elites. Interstate 44 bypassed the Kansas portion of Route 66 when it opened in 1961, and all of U.S. Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1986, but Route 66 tourism has continued to sustain businesses between Galena and Baxter Springs. Nelson’s Old Riverton Store, opened at its present location in 1923 before the highway arrived, remained in business long after its departure. Today, thousands of tourists travel Historic Kansas Route 66 each year in search of the American Main Street, including visitors from countries such as Norway, England, France, China, and Japan, and the success of the Disney Pixar movie Cars has further amplified this resurgence as this corner of Kansas puts its past forward.