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Red Cedar Inn

Historic hotel
In Pacific, Missouri
On Route 66
National Register of Historic Places

Built of logs, the Red Cedar Inn stands near St. Louis, MO, in the town of Pacific. It sits about 6 miles from the main line of the old road, but it was built on the Route 66 alignment through Pacific soon after the highway arrived. Once a busy restaurant and bar, it now serves as a visitor center and museum, and it is listed on the National Register.

What is Red Cedar Inn?

Brothers James and Bill Smith built the inn with a rustic look in mind. The outside shows logs striped with white chinking, and the walls inside are knotty pine. The logs came from the family farm. The brothers wanted the place to recall Missouri's pioneer days and catch the eye of passing tourists.

It ran as a full-service restaurant and, from the start, poured cocktails too.

History of Red Cedar Inn

Route 66 reached Pacific in 1932. Until then the town lived mostly on silica mining, supplying sand for fine glass and building materials such as brick, and the new highway gave the local economy a lift.

The Smith brothers had made their money bootlegging liquor from the family farm at Villa Ridge. When Prohibition ended in 1933, that trade dried up. Each brother opened a tavern, James in Eureka and Bill in Fenton, and around the same time they put up the Red Cedar Inn on the new highway, with 1934 recorded as its starting year. Its roadside spot paid off, and a bar was added in 1935. The inn became a favorite with Route 66 travellers, including big-league ballplayers Dizzy Dean, Ted Williams and Bob Klinger.

Visiting Red Cedar Inn: tips

As a visitor center and museum, it is a natural place to stop, ask questions and look around. It has wheelchair access. Allow about half an hour. Pacific Palisades Conservation Area is about 0.6 miles away for a walk by the Meramec River, and Allenton Access is about 3.1 miles off.