Mule Tobacco Barn, Rolla, Missouri
N 37° 58.679 W 091° 43.290
15S E 612284 N 4204143
This tobacco shop has a unique hillbilly "whirlygig" sign to attract customers.
Waymark Code: WMBXP3
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 07/02/2011
Views: 4
The sign outside the Mule Trading Post boasts:
Mule Tobacco Barn
Cigar Humidor, MO Wine, Beer, Liquor
Mule Tobacco Barn, Exit 189 in Rolla - is located along Historic Route 66. Selection includes local wines, cheese and sausages and spirits, also souvenirs of Route 66 & Missouri, antiques, Amish products, gifts, knives, swords and other items. Open seven days a week Humidor Room available and no City Sales Tax on cigarettes.
Phone: (573) 341-0162
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According to an online article I discovered, The whirligig Hillbilly sign that beckons to visits from the parking lot of The Mule Trading Post was once located in front of the Hillbilly Store that closed at this location in 2000, when the sign was laid on the ground and sat neglected for several years.
Carl and Zelma Smith, an energetic couple that moved to Missouri from Nebraska, purchased the property and reopened it as the Mule Trading Post. They became interested in local history, learned of the popularity of Route 66, and joined the Route 66 Association, a group dedicated to preserving the history of historic old Route 66 Highway. The Smith’s learned of the hillbilly sign, tracked it down and restored it in 2007. In their research, they learned that their sign was not the original Hillbilly that many remember from their youth; the original Hillbilly Store was located in Devil’s Elbow, Missouri, and had a smaller hillbilly whirygig. When that store relocated to the Rolla location, the owners had caused the larger hillbilly sign to be created (it is nearly 2 stories tall), and this is the sign the Smith’s have in front of their store. A photo of the smaller, original sign can be seen in Quinta Scott’s book “Along Route 66”.
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