Missouri Route 66 - Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI. The Woodruff Building, corner of Jefferson Street and St. Louis (Route 66) in downtown Springfield. It was "opened to the public with much fanfare" in 1911, according to the Springfield-Greene County Library, with a "drugstore, barber shop, pool hall and two elevators." The Woodruff was Springfield's largest office building, housing many lawyers and the Missouri Court of Appeals, but the structure has been in decline for over a decade. In 2010 the old building's fate was sealed, with the bit of the bizarre not uncommon on Route 66, when it was sold to the History Channel for an episode of Life After People. That's the show that depicts decaying architecture and infrastructure after the demise of earth's human population. The Woodruff's interior decay will be documented as time goes by for the TV show. One of the few disheartening stories of this Route 66 trip.