‘Meramec Caverns’ Sign Offers Glimpse Into The Past

Quietly nestled in the small community of Cayuga, about halfway between Pontiac and Odell on The First Hundred Miles of Historic Route 66, you’ll spot an original Meramec Caverns barn sign. This towering text painted on the roofs of barns was once a common roadside sight throughout the Midwest. Meramec Caverns barn signs have become a rare and nostalgic sightseeing opportunity – towering time capsules offering a glimpse into the history of advertising and travel during the heyday of Route 66.

Originally erected in the mid-1930s to promote a tourist cave located in Sullivan, Missouri, these iconic advertising signs could be found in 14 states during the promotion’s height – the majority located in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Arkansas. Meramec sign experts estimate there were over 400 barn signs created – fewer than 50 remain today. Federal beautification laws passed in the late 1960s brought an end to the practice, but the original signs have been grandfathered in, and now stand as a monument to the beloved roadside kitsch of yesteryear.

Initially dubbed Saltpeter Cave, Meramec Caverns had a fascinating history long before it became one of the nation’s favorite roadside attractions. Home to a rich deposit of potassium nitrate, a key ingredient in the manufacturing of gunpowder, the network of caverns became a hotly contested piece of land for more than a century, following its colonial discovery in 1720. During the height of the Civil War, Confederate troops destroyed a Union-held gunpowder facility inside the cave – which brought an inauspicious end to potassium nitrate mining in the caverns.

By the 1890s, the cave’s future as a tourist destination was already starting to materialize. Locals from nearby Stanton, Missouri, would host dances in the cool cavern auditorium during summer months to avoid the debilitating heat. In 1933, during the nation’s boom of cross-country automobile travel, entrepreneur and amateur spelunker Lester Dill saw the potential of turning the cave into a major roadside destination. Under the auspices of Dill, the caves were renamed Meremac Caverns, and new spaces with breathtaking stalactites were discovered and made accessible to tourists.

Perhaps more famous than Dill’s cavern discoveries were his unconventional promotional methods. During the summer months, Dill hired crews to paint barns set along America’s new network of cross-country roadways. Dill’s innovative bargain was simple, he would offer the farmers a completely free new coat of barn paint – provided they were permitted to also paint a large sign on the barn to advertise the caverns to passing cars. Dill also pioneered a precursor to the modern bumpersticker, long before vinyl and sticker adhesive had been invented. While visitors toured his cave, Dill would have employees tie small Meramec Caverns signs to the bumpers of their cars – giving him free advertising and the visitors a complimentary souvenir.

The Cayuga Barn was restored by volunteers of the Route 66 Association of Illinois Preservation Committee in 1998, and has interpretive signage provided by Hampton Hotels Save-A-Landmark Program. There’s a convenient pull-off location on Historic Route 66 that gives you an excellent angle for photographing the sign. You’ll find the photo-op pull-off about 5 miles northeast of Pontiac, and about 280 miles northeast of the actual Meramec Caverns.

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