Red Oak II: A Missouri Route 66 Gem

During my Missouri Route 66 planning, I made a note to visit Red Oak II since I wanted to see the cottage-style Phillips 66 service station that had been relocated there and restored from the ghost town of Red Oak, Missouri. That was the extent of my research on this location, and while I knew there were a few other restored buildings on-site, nothing I read prepared me for the magnitude of this Route 66 treasure.

This cottage-style Phillips 66 service station was located on old Route 66 near the turn-off to Red Oak, Missouri. The station was brought to Red Oak II and completely restored in 1989.

This place is absolutely amazing and should be a MUST SEE on every Route 66 itinerary!  It is, in my opinion, the absolute best gem along the entire stretch of the Mother Road!

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The Feed & Seed store was originally the Carthage Limestone Company office building. This was the first building moved out to Red Oak II. The interior is furnished with items from the Cantrell Feed & Seed store in Carthage.

Red Oak II, Missoura, spelled with an "a" not an "i', was the artistic vision of artist Lowell Davis (1937-2020). Sometimes called the "Norman Rockwell of Rural Art," much of his artwork reflects what it was like to grow up in rural America along Route 66 during its heyday. While he is best known for his farm animal figurines, he also painted, sculpted, and created metal art.

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The Blacksmith Shop was Lowell's great-grandfather Weber's and was the first building built in the original town of Red Oak.

Lowell Davis returned to Missouri after his wanderlust took him to the Air Force, Kansas State University and Dallas, Texas, where he spent 13 years as an art director at an advertising agency.

During his years in the big city all he could think about was getting home to Missouri.  Eventually, he bought a farm and made the move.

The Red Oak General store was built at the turn of the century and has been operated by Lowell Davis's family in the original Red Oak, Missouri, since 1921. The store was moved to Red Oak II and restored in 1988.

After arriving home, he was saddened to see that the small rural Missouri communities of his youth, like his family's hometown of Red Oak, were becoming ghost towns and that the buildings were in ruins. So he began collecting old buildings and moving them to his farm, Fox Fire, to restore.

Not every building came from the original Red Oak, but Davis's buildings stay true to the same era, dating from the turn of the century through the 1930s. He couldn't find a couple of the buildings he wanted in Red Oak II, so he created them himself. To think, this all started in a cornfield in 1987 and eventually became the quaint and colorful early 1900s utopian village you see today.

Otis Cabin is one of the most popular buildings at Red Oak II. It is not a restored building but new construction designed and created by Lowell Davis. The cabin was named in honor of Otis, the bullfrog who lived in the pond surrounding the cabin.

The village of Red Oak II encompasses roughly 60 acres. It includes a diner, jail, blacksmith shop, general store, Phillips 66 station, schoolhouse, town hall, country church, cemetery, several homes and other buildings.

The blacksmith shop once belonged to Davis's great grandfather, and his father once owned the general store.

Marshal Ralph Hooker's office is new construction built in 1993 as a museum to house Marshal Hooker's guns, badges, and other items he used during his 50 years of law enforcement.

Lowell Davis began selling off his collection of homes for people to live in when the upkeep and maintenance became too much—transforming the village of his "childhood memories" from an art exhibit into a living museum.

The Parsonage.

There are now about a dozen residents in Red Oak II, helping maintain and care for the town. The landscaping is immaculate, and the village is complete with old cars, farm equipment, and even an airplane! Peppered throughout the village is Lowell Davis's metal art.

I had difficulty knowing which buildings were "lived in" and which were part of the collection, so please be respectful about looking into windows and trying doors when you visit.

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Red Oak II is open to the public seven days a week from 7 am to 9 pm. The village has several degrees of openness, from some buildings being unlocked and open to the public to just being able to walk the streets and enjoy from afar. When I visited on a Sunday afternoon, everything was closed, but the few people I saw made me feel welcome.

Check out their website before you visit for more information. They hold special events throughout the year and have a weekly Pickin' and Singin' Jam session on Saturday evenings and church services on Sunday mornings at the Salem Country Church. The public is always welcome.

The village is free to visit, but be sure to drop something into the donation box by the General Store to help with maintenance costs. 

The Dalton Farmhouse

Red Oak II is quaint, quirky, colorful, and fun, with interesting details around every corner. When visiting, I felt like I had simultaneously died, gone to heaven, and found "my people" it's just that good!  I could live here. It's my kind of place...

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 Red Oak II, Missoura - 12275 Kafir Road, Carthage, Missouri

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Not every images makes it into my blog, visit the Route 66 Collection to see more of my travels along the Mother Road!

Other Route 66 blog post.
The Best of Texas Route 66
The Best of New Mexico Route 66
Old Chain of Rocks Bridge: A Route 66 Gem between Illinois and Missouri

Check back, blog post are coming soon for Route 66 though Illinois and Missouri.

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About the Photographer

Susan Rissi Tregoning is the 8th photographer in the past four generations of professional photographers in her family. After a long career as an art buyer and interior designer, she put her career on hold in 2006 to travel with her husband and his job.

In the process, she found her roots again,  developing a photography obsession far  ​beyond casual ​snapshots that evolved into a desire to capture every location and object as art. By meshing her two loves, photography and design, she has come full circle.​

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