Pacific, Missouri Old Town.
In 1852, the Pacific Railroad Company laid out an official town called Franklin. It was to be the new railroad’s first division West of the Mississippi River. On July 19, 1852, the first train made its inaugural run from St. Louis to the end of the track at Franklin amidst a huge celebration. Soon, people began settling the area because of its proximity to two major rivers and the city of St. Louis. In 1859, the town was officially incorporated, and its name was changed in honor of the Pacific Railroad.
The railroad drove most of the town’s early growth and development. Soon, people began building downtown, and some of those buildings still stand today.
In 1864, during the Civil War, General Sterling Price of the Confederate Army raided the town. After the attack, the bridges, depot, ice house, and railroad supply houses were left in ashes.
In the 1870s, silica mining began in the sandstone bluffs just north of downtown Pacific, boosting the small town’s economy. In those days, silica sand was used to make fine glassware. Today, you can still see large caverns in the bluff along the North side of Route 66. Mining continues in the area at the St. Peter Sandstone Formation South of Route 66 across the Meramec River.
Another milestone came to Pacific when U.S. 66 was built in 1932. Soon, the city sprouted a number of businesses to serve the new traffic through town.
Red Cedar Inn in Pacific, Missouri.
One of the first was the Red Cedar Inn, which still stands today. James and Bill Smith built the Inn in 1934. The family cut logs from the farm and hauled them to the site in an old one-ton Ford Truck. In 1935, they added the barroom. The Inn was operated continually until 1972, when James Smith II retired. However, in 1987, the Inn was reopened by James Smith III and continued to serve Route 66 travelers in the family tradition. On April 2, 2003, the Inn was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Alas, the inn was closed in 2005. In 2017, the City of Pacific purchased the building, and it is now a museum and visitors’ center.
About a mile down the road, at 409 E. Osage Street, is an old building that once held Monroe’s Diner. Monroe’s served many breakfasts, lunches, and dinners to Mother Road travelers and was closed for a while. Today, the building stands empty.
Monroe’s Diner, Pacific, Missouri
Towering sandstone bluffs line Route 66 through Pacific, dotted with caves that make many a Mother Road traveler do a double-take. The caves date back to the 1870s and come from Pacific’s silica-mining days. They were exposed in 1932 when Route 66 was realigned through Pacific, bypassing the Manchester Road alignment.
Today, Pacific, just a 30-minute drive from St. Louis, is primarily populated by commuters who want to enjoy the advantages of small-town life.
Sandstone bluffs in Pacific, Missouri, courtesy of Google Maps.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.
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