In the beginning, Midway was a small-scale restaurant and gas station. Alline Earls was the tenant of the halfway, a small café located in Cuba, Missouri, which was leased by William Mullen in the 1930s. Cuba benefited from the wealth that Route 66 brought to the country, and the midway was prepared to profit on the visiting public's voyage from Chicago to California and beyond. In order to capitalize on the development of the new firm, Earls purchased Midway Cafe from Mullins. In the 1940s, T helped to enhance commerce at the midway.
In the 1940s, Earls constructed a second level of the midway residence that had 24 rooms and four bathrooms. She continued to operate the café while the construction was taking place, exposing customers to dust and plaster. As stated in the cookbook titled "Route 66" by Marion Clark and Michael Wallace. Having received solace from his mother, Rd. Earls remembered. When I made the decision to add sleeping rooms on the second story, everything was in a complete and utter chaos. In addition, she says. We shifted tables from one side to the other and hung beams over people's heads in order to accommodate them, but I never locked the door. Over the course of many months, customers entered via the front windows.
The newly constructed quarters were used by Fort Wood troops and their wives. On their trek across the country, salesmen made a halt around the halfway point. The midway was converted into a bus stop, and Earls currently has a total of 36 employees. Over the course of 38 years, Mrs. Earle's restaurant stayed open around the clock, seven days a week. In 1972, she was unable to provide the new proprietors with a key since she had never shut the doors of the café. One of the more interesting anecdotes that Clark and Wallace had from those years concerns a number of soldiers who were unconscious at the counter.
According to the orders of a liquor inspector, the soldiers were to leave the premises. The soldiers were taken by friends to the Mullins' lawn over the next door. Following her observation of the events that were taking place, Mrs. Mullins took the soldiers, blankets, and pillows that she thought someone would take for her sons who were serving in the military. Both Bee Forster and Cook's filthy Forbes were considered to be halfway symbols. Former waiters now work as chefs at the midway. They were two of the numerous people who service the public and were considered to be legends of the midway. There was a time when the midway provided 600 meals on a regular basis.
At the halfway, Cubans from the area came together. There were a variety of activities that took place there, including employment, special events after school, hangouts, family dinners, meetings, and more. In the middle of make-ups and breakups. The children dance to the music playing on the jukebox. After the football games, teenagers came to visit. Many generations of Cubans consider the midpoint to be of great significance. Between the years 1972 and 1974, Dan Harris purchased the midway from Missus Earle's and then sold it to junior beers. 1976 was the year when blue star Noel Picard and his wife, Vivienne, purchased the midway house. The Picards, together with their children Dan and Annie, put forth a lot of effort to ensure that the midway was a success.
A number of Saint Louis Blues football players, including Jim Hart, Dan Dearduff, and Jackie Smith, paid a visit to the midway provided by Noah Piccards. These players were treated to wild game lunches. It was common for residents to frequent the restaurant that was owned by a family, and the midway continued to serve as a gathering place, even if the higher rooms were left vacant. It is said that the New Year's celebrations were legendary. Following the sale of the midway by the Picard, the midway began to fall apart. Following the closure of the restaurant sector, small businesses began to emerge.
Due to years of neglect, the midway is in a poor condition. Following the sale of the building, truckloads of debris were removed from the site. In order to practice putting out fires, the fire department began by dragging hoses through the building and climbing ladders to reach the windows on the second floor. It has been rumored that the brand new owners want to tear down the building. A tour of the structure shows that it has been neglected in a deplorable way.



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