National Route 66 Museum and Transportation Museum — Attraction in Elk City

We stopped by the museum today (Sunday), and sadly it was closed. However it was still absolutely wonderful!!! It's set up like a little town, so even though it was closed, we could still walk through the "town" and look through windows to see the insides. They have the first wooden house in Elk City (so small!), an old local school house that was donated to them, a caboose, and replicas of a bank, general store, train depot, menswear store, and many others. Our kids are 6 and 11, and they said they enjoyed it. I liked being able to show them what life was like MANY years ago so they can see how fortunate they are (no washtubs, no sewing desks because we don't need to sew our own clothes, no carriages). My parents had shown me all of those things when I was little (I'm 41 now), and I worry that at some point those things will become completely obsolete (even in museums) and our kids won't have that glimpse of that history. This is a great stop along I-40. **I only wish that they had a box for donations in case someone stops by like we did when it is closed. They clearly put SO MUCH time and money into preserving this...

If you're wondering why other stops along Route 66 are dying, look no further than this place.

I'm sure the museums are great... Unfortunately I can't say because we weren't allowed to go into them. We called ahead during our 9 hour drive from Houston and arrived at the museum at around 4:30 (they close at 5). Hoping this would be a good first stop on our journey out west we jumped out of the car with great excitement. When we got inside with our Route 66 passports in hand a seemingly annoyed lady "greeted" us by telling us we were too late. Then while stamping our passports generally treating us like a nuisance she told us in an adamant way "I don't have the magnet for these."

The whole experience was a major turn off. It's incredible how comfortable they were brushing off a family of 4 genuine Route 66 travelers. Coincidentally my wife and I own helproute66.org which is a registry of places to stop at along the Route. Obviously this place doesn't need our help and will...

This is an amazing place once you realize how many buildings have been relocated to this site. The collections on display are very impressive with some real hidden treasures. It covers all aspects of the transportation culture surrounding route 66. There is a theatre with a very well made presentation on transportation history. It has enough to keep kids and adults interested. Plan on spending a few hours here if you want to see and take it all in. There's a very nice train display with a real caboose on rails that you can go into and explore. There's a blacksmith display, a farm history display as well. There's ame room and backdrops for photo opportunities. The vehicles and equipment on display are very nice and appropriate for each area of the museum. I believe there were 14 buildings to look into and explore. Public restrooms are on site. You have to see it for yourself to get the...