WE APPRECIATE TRAVELING THE BACKROADS whenever possible and one of our all time favorites is Highway 36 which parallels I-70 from Denver, east. Along this road you can take your time and experience rolling hills and fields of corn, hay and cattle grazing. There is a mix of open plains and barns dotting the countryside with very few 18-wheelers and billboards in sight. And, we’ve found more times than not, you will experience a smoother ride than found on our nation’s interstates.
On our journey along Missouri’s Highway 36, designated as “The Way of American Genius”, we stumbled upon the small town of Hamilton, home to Jenny Doan, the master quilter/YouTube vlogger, and her Missouri Star Quilt Company. Hamilton is also home to James Cash Penney, born in 1875. Today, a very small museum bears his name, J. C. Penney. Further east we pulled into the town of Marceline, population 2,000, whose claim is the boyhood home of Walt Disney.
Elias and Flora Disney moved their family of five children from the metropolis of Chicago to try their hand at farming. While they only resided in Marceline from 1905 to 1910, this small community left an indelible mark on Walt who has said, “More things of importance happened to me in Marceline than have happened since, or are likely to in the future.” It was here that Walt and his younger sister, Ruth, sat under his ‘Dreaming Tree’ for hours playing and daydreaming. The Dreaming Tree today has been beautifully recreated at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida, my favorite of the four Walt Disney World Orlando parks.
Marceline’s Walt Disney Hometown Museum is inside a 1913 Santa Fe Railroad passenger station which was scheduled for demolition before members of the town took a stand to save and renovate this historical gem. While touring the museum, our docent, Inez Johnson, shared her history and knowledge of Walt. Wearing a button that said, ‘I met Walt Disney in 1956’, of course raised questions! It seems when Walt and his wife, Lillian, returned to Marceline to dedicate the Disney Pool Complex in 1956, the Disney family stayed at the Johnson home which was unique at the time as it had air-conditioning. Walt returned once again in 1960 to dedicate the new Walt Disney Elementary School.
Today, an early downtown Marceline can be glimpsed in areas along Disneyland’s Main Street in Anaheim. And in Marceline, the Santa Fe Station is now home to Disney memorabilia and many personal letters and photographs entrusted to the museum by Ruth Disney on her passing in 1995. About 70 trains continue to run through Marceline daily, but no longer stop at the Santa Fe passenger station.
Camp Dawg 