Beacon Motel Sign

675 E Osage St., Pacific, MO
Phone:

East < GO > West

The Beacon Court/Motel opened on this site in 1946 with "Sixteen modern, tastefully decorated cottages". The motels neon sign was attached to a farm windmill tower with a beacon on top, hence the name "Beacon Motel". Like so many other motels along the Mother Road, business probably pretty much fell off a cliff when Interstate 44 opened in the 1960s. By the mid-1980s it sat empty before becoming the site of a landscaping business. In 2003 while owned by the landscape business the sign was threatened with demolition by the city unless it was restored. Ultimately the motel was torn down and replaced by this car wash, but the sign survived!

Thankfully the owner of the property saved and restored the old sign. It now sits on a platform at the Beacon Car Wash, serving as sort of a beacon to history.

Here's a photo of the Sand Mountain bluffs next to the Beacon Car Wash. The mountain was cut to allow the realignment of Route 66 in 1932. That exposed parts of the underground rooms (caves) used by the silica mining company.

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Vintage Advertising Highlights

BEACON COURT
Clearwater 7-****
3 Miles East of Pacific, Mo.
on Old Highway "66"
16 Modern, Inviting, Tastefully
Decorated Cottages. Tile Baths - Garages - Air-Conditioned
Automatic Hot Water Heat - Free Television
Reservations Held Until 6 P.M.
Restaurant Next Door

NOTE: The postcard shows bungalow style cottages, each with an enclosed garage. A prominent sign by the road touts both the Air-Contioning and free Televisions, that probably dates this postcard to the mid-50s, or later.

Photo(s): 2016