Canadian Rivers Historical Museum

The building started out as the home of the Bank of Commerce and later the American State Bank, which ultimately failed during the Great Depression. Bill Moore bought the building in 1935 and remodeled it to be the home of his Ford dealership. It later became the home of Davison-England Motors, another Ford dealer. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

I'm not sure if this is the original sign, it doesn't quite fir the style of the building, or the space, but it does get the message across.

The old log jail and a Rock Island caboose are located across the street from the museum itself.

This is the area's first log jail which was used from 1893 to 1909. It is located at the intersection of Broadway and Main. It even has its own shelter built to protect it a bit from the rain & snow. There aren't many of the log jails on the Mother Road, offhand the only other one I can think of is the 1860 log jail in Seligman, AZ.

The sign over the door refers to this as the "1893 Hoosegow", it appears that accommodations were sparse at best, no coddling of scofflaw here! The pioneer jail is tiny, but there are TWO separate cells, which is more than many of these small jails had.

Like many places along Route 66 the railroad played an important role in the life of Geary. In commemoration of that role Rock Island Caboose #17043, is located in the same little park as the log jail and is also part of the Canadian River Historical Society Museum. Steps let you climb up and peek through the windows to see what the interior looks like. This wasn't luxury travel but it did the job and still holds a fascination for many folks.

Photo(s): 2012