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Vernelle's Motel10891 Arlington Outer Rd, Doolittle/Arlington, MOPhone: 573-762-2798
The name changed when Fred, and his wife Vernelle Gasser bought the property in 1952. Fred was E.P. Gassers nephew. They added a 100 seat restaurant, a Cities Service Gas Station and a 12 unit motel to the site. In the early 1960s the Goodridge family bought the property and family members ran it until 2016 when it closed. The bottom billboard features a Route 66 shield and a prominent "Exit Now" to help get drivers on I-44 know where to get off and find a nights lodging. In a seemingly endless series of changes first Route 66 was expanded to 4 lanes in 1957 and made it necessary to move the restaurant out of the way and tear down 5 of the 6 cabins. Then in 1968 I-44 came along and required more changes including a service road which meant the end of the restaurant and then about 2006 I-44 was moved from in front of the motel to behind it and out of site. Now the motel sits south of the current I-44 and just west of Exit 176 (Sugar Tree Rd).
---------- VERNELLE'S
MOTEL & RESTAURANT NOTE: The mailing address was Newburg, but the motel site was on Route 66 between Doolittle and Arlington. Photo(s): 2012
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