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Red Top Camp Garage

16435 State Hwy OO, Strafford, MO 65757
Phone:

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What's left of the Red Top Camp, Cafe Service Station and Garage sits at the top of a scenic mile long winding climb up Northview Hill. James "Bud" Lawrence and his brother built the camp in 1931. A couple of years later they added two more cabins. The Lawrence brothers ran the camp for a few years and later leased the business to others while retaining ownership of the property. James "Bud" still owned it until the mid-1940s. Under later owner the camp, or at least the garage, kept going into the 1980s. It was more like a junk yard when we went by in 2018.

GPS: 37.299942,-93.009906

The camp eventually consisted of several cottages, a cafe, gas station and and garage. The cottages had toilets, showers, hot and cold running water, and kitchenettes. That made them pretty modern for the time. In the spring of 1933 Lawrence added two more cabins. In 1940 Bud Lawrence and family returned to run the camp and in 1941 completely renovated it, including converting the office into a cafe and living quarters.

The title and sub-title below are from of a little note in the Marshfield newspaper on April 20, 1933.

"PET MONKEY ENTERTAINING"
""Bozo " Caters To Everyone and Likes To Be Petted"

"Bozo" hung out at the Standard Oil Station at the Red Top Camp, belonged to Bud Lawrence who brought the monkey on one of his trips to South America. Apparently he was a very friendly little monkey who loved to be petted.

The garage is a simple concrete block building with a metal clad gable roof. It was originally a two-bay garage with overhead doors, a single entrance door and corner office windows that were typical of the time period. In this photo one of the of the overhead doors has been filled in with a wall and the other has been updated but appears to be in poor condition. The corner office windows appear to have been replaced by slightly smaller units with the rest of the space filled in. The entry door has also been replace with a windowless style door. The two restroom doors on the end of the building are also typical for a gas station of the time period.

So Why Was It Named the RED TOP CAMP?

The metal roof of the garage was painted red with "Red Top" painted on it to attract tourists going by. That became more important after the four lane was built in 1952 and even more important later when I-44 opened.

It is located on Route 66 (Hwy. CC) one mile west of Hwy. B, south side.

Photo(s): 2016