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“Get your kicks on Route 66” is the famous line from Nat King Cole’s song that commemorated Route 66, which was the highway that ran from California to Chicago before the interstate freeway system bypassed the highway with a more direct route through the Midwest. In the 1920s, travelling Route 66 would mean a stop in Wildwood, Missouri just outside of St. Louis. Wildwood established a tourist camp—restaurants, motels, and other forms of lodgings for travelers going to or from California. Today, most of that tourist camp has been demolished, with the exception of one building: Big Chief Restaurant.

For a few years, tourism helped the economy of Wildwood thrive, and Big Chief Restaurant was an integral part of that economic growth with the Route 66 thoroughfare. Walter Petring of the Highway Hotel Corporation first conceived of tourist camps clustering the St. Louis area, providing lodging and other services to travelers. Big Chief Restaurant was drawn up with tourist camp plans, and featured the mission revival style: rectangular, symmetrical, with a bell tower, and two stories to accommodate hungry families on their way to their respective destinations. Big Chief was a full service establishment, dwarfing neighboring diners and other fast food chains that were popping up along the highway. In its heyday, Big Chief Restaurant served travelers morning, noon, and night. All of this changed when Route 66 was bypassed by the interstate highway system a few decades later.

As a result of the interstate road construction, Big Chief and other tourist camps faded from memory, and many of them were either demolished or converted to other purposes. Big Chief Restaurant served as a government office building in World War II. It wasn’t until 1992 that interest in revamping Big Chief Restaurant was explored. It was re-established as a restaurant, and gained a National Register of Historic Places listing in 2003, ensuring its legacy will continue for tourists interested in visiting the old sites of Route 66.

Petring’s idea of tourist camps was a short-lived success—the march of time and progress of innovation eventually outpaced his vision for what Route 66 could offer. But this does not mean he failed, or that his efforts were in vain. Tutors in Wildwood may not think on the same grand scale as Petring, but they do exercise innovative methods in the way they reach their clients. Students, similar to Petring, may experience setbacks and see their ideas falter. But, with the help of a tutor, they can procure long-term success with their academic progress.