Red Cedar Inn Museum

James and Bill Smith were Pacific natives who returned to the area in the early 1930s after several years working in St. Louis. They identified a need for a good roadhouse along the still-young Route 66 alignment east of town and convinced their father to let them cut red cedar timber from the family farm to build it. Construction began in 1933 and the inn opened to the public on a Friday night in spring 1934 with a menu of family-style fried chicken, country ham, fried catfish, and pan-fried steak, all served at long communal tables with bowls of mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, and seasonal vegetables passed family-style. The price was sixty-five cents per adult, twenty cents per child.

The roadhouse format proved enormously popular through the 1930s and 1940s, surviving the Depression because the prices were so reasonable and World War II by emphasizing the family-style approach when meat rationing limited what other restaurants could offer. James and Bill ran the business until the late 1950s, when James's son Howard took over. Howard added the bar in front, expanded the dining room, and ran the inn through the late 1980s. His son Ginger, the third-generation owner, modernized the kitchen but otherwise kept everything as his grandfather had built it.

When Ginger closed the doors in 2005 he genuinely meant it to be temporary, a six-month break while he considered a remodel. But health issues kept the doors closed, and by 2008 the building was on the demolition list. The Pacific Historical Society and the Missouri Route 66 Association launched a save-the-Red-Cedar campaign that ran for five years before the city acquired the property in 2013. The museum opened the following year. Ginger Smith attended the dedication in his original chef's apron.

The Red Cedar Inn museum is essentially a preserved restaurant, frozen in time at the moment of its 2005 closure. The main dining room contains the original communal tables (six tables seating twelve each), set with the original Wedgwood-style china, water glasses, and napkins as they were on the final night. The chairs are the original mismatched assortment that accumulated over seventy years of replacements. The wood-paneled walls are covered with framed photographs spanning all three generations: the Smith family at the 1934 opening, customers in suits and hats during the 1940s, prom couples in the 1950s, anniversary dinners in the 1970s, and the final night in 2005 with hand-written notes from regulars.

The bar area in front retains its original neon signs (a Coca-Cola sign from 1948, a Falstaff Beer sign from 1955, and the famous Red Cedar Inn sign with the slogan 'Where the Highway Meets the Hospitality'), original brass beer taps, and the cash register that served the business from 1962 until 2005. The bottles on display are the actual bottles from the night of closing, dusted but not refilled. A small interpretive panel explains the history of country roadhouses on Route 66 and the Red Cedar's place in that tradition.

The back room houses a small but well-curated exhibit on Pacific history more broadly, including displays on the Meramec River, the early railroad history, and the development of Route 66 through eastern Franklin County. A short video documentary plays on a loop, featuring interviews with the Smith family and customers who ate there over the decades. Restrooms are clean and free. A small gift shop sells Red Cedar Inn merchandise (mugs, postcards, books) with proceeds supporting ongoing preservation.

The Red Cedar Inn Museum is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Monday through Thursday. Group tours of ten or more can be arranged for weekday visits by contacting the Pacific Tourism Commission at least one week in advance; weekday tours are accommodated when a volunteer docent is available. Admission is free, with donations welcomed and used to fund continued building preservation.

Volunteer docents staff the welcome desk during open hours and offer informal tours on request. Most have personal connections to the inn, either as former customers, former staff, or descendants of regulars; their stories are often the highlight of a visit. Photography is allowed and encouraged, with no flash restrictions. The building is accessible at ground level via a wheelchair ramp at the back entrance.

Since the Red Cedar Inn is no longer a restaurant, plan to eat elsewhere. The Blue Bird Cafe a few blocks away in downtown Pacific serves excellent breakfast and lunch in a small storefront diner. The Stanton area, sixteen minutes west near Meramec Caverns, has several small cafes. For dinner consider driving twenty minutes east to Eureka or Pacific's own Crossroads Restaurant on the I-44 frontage. Pair the Red Cedar visit with Jensen's Point Park (a five-minute drive), the Pacific Historical Museum, and Meramec Caverns for a complete Pacific Route 66 day.