Midway Camp / Bins on 66

15160 State Hwy. A, Phillipsburg, MO
Phone:

East < GO > West

Some form of the Midway Camp, Cafe & Service occupied this spot along Route 66 from at least 1930 until 1990. That was followed by about 30 years of other uses, which brings to the photo above.

Those aren't just any old grain bins, they are AirBnB lodging units, and they've been fixed up quite nicely inside. Who knows, this might be your only chance to SLEEP IN A GRAIN BIN!

John Edward "Banty" Shank leased and operated the station in 1931 and from then until 1948 there several operators. In 1948 The Mort family bought the land and business. The Morts saw a lot of changes, first the building of the 4 lane 66 in the mid 1950s and then the conversion of the 4 lane to I-40 in the 1960s. Two generations of the Mort family operated the business until it closed permanently in 1990.

That brings us to the grain bins, they have a history of traveling Route 66 themselves. Until the mid-90s they lived at a mill in the Route 66 town of Vinita, OK That's when Gary McMillan bought them and brought them to Phillipsburg, after disassembling them for transport. He rebuilt them next to what had been the Underpass Cafe garage.

In 2020 the bins were on the move again after Andy Triplett bought them, but no disassembly this time. One at a time they were loaded on a flat trailer and hauled about a mile to where they sit today on the site of the old Midway Camp.

Just west of the Bins on 55 are a couple of small houses that were originaly cabins for Midway Camp.

Photo(s): 2023