Red Cedar Inn Museum and Visitor Center

Come for the hand-hewn roadside look; stay for the initials generations left behind. Route 66 reached Pacific in 1932, and brothers James and Bill Smith built the Red Cedar Inn soon afterward with cedar cut from family land. Dark logs, white chinking, stonework, and a glowing sign gave motorists an easy landmark, while the restaurant and bar became a local gathering place as national Prohibition ended. The building entered the National Register of Historic Places in 2003; the restaurant closed in 2005 after more than seven decades.The road did not lose this chapter. The City of Pacific acquired the property in 2017, restored it, and reopened it in 2023 as the Red Cedar Inn Museum & Visitor Center. Walk the original floors, look for initials carved into old posts, study the historic bar, and find one of the original neon signs preserved inside. Current spaces also include visitor information, a children’s museum, exhibits, and a gift shop. Food is no longer served—the experience now is the building, its memories, and Pacific’s place on the Mother Road.Current city hours are Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday noon–4 p.m.; Monday and Tuesday are closed. Holiday, weather, and program schedules can change, so confirm the city listing or call 636-271-0500 extension 222 before a long drive. Use marked visitor parking, follow staff guidance, and treat any roped or closed area as part of the preserved story rather than an invitation to enter. More

Come for the hand-hewn roadside look; stay for the initials generations left behind. Route 66 reached Pacific in 1932, and brothers James and Bill Smith built the Red Cedar Inn soon afterward with cedar cut from family land. Dark logs, white chinking, stonework, and a glowing sign gave motorists an easy landmark, while the restaurant and bar became a local gathering place as national Prohibition ended. The building entered the National Register of Historic Places in 2003; the restaurant closed in 2005 after more than seven decades.The road did not lose this chapter. The City of Pacific acquired the property in 2017, restored it, and reopened it in 2023 as the Red Cedar Inn Museum & Visitor Center. Walk the original floors, look for initials carved into old posts, study the historic bar, and find one of the original neon signs preserved inside. Current spaces also include visitor information, a children’s museum, exhibits, and a gift shop. Food is no longer served—the experience now is the building, its memories, and Pacific’s place on the Mother Road.Current city hours are Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday noon–4 p.m.; Monday and Tuesday are closed. Holiday, weather, and program schedules can change, so confirm the city listing or call 636-271-0500 extension 222 before a long drive. Use marked visitor parking, follow staff guidance, and treat any roped or closed area as part of the preserved story rather than an invitation to enter. More