When I reported on my visit to the Harmon Museum in Lebanon, OH, and mentioned that other museums not entirely new to me were candidates for future blog posts, the Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington, KY, was very much on my mind. I’ve been there before and counted its pleasant setting in Devou Park among reasons to return. Friday was not quite the perfect spring day I’d been thinking of for a visit, but it was sunny, pretty darn warm (60°+) for mid-February, and I was in the area.
The attendant indicated that there really wasn’t a suggested sequence for exploring the museum. I decided to start at the top and work my way down. The visitor guide discusses just three floors, but the elevator goes to four. Some offices are located here, along with a play/learning area for young children.
There are displays, including the upper deck of a USS Wake Robin mockup, in an adjacent area overlooking third-floor displays identified in the guide. They are reached by descending the spiral stairs or by elevator. The Wake Robin was built in 1926 as a lighthouse tender, became part of the Coast Guard fleet in 1938, then spent several of its later years as the USS Nightmare, a Halloween-themed attraction on Covington’s riverfront. Folks with a good imagination might see some similarity between the third picture and this blog’s page-topping image of the Delta Queen making its final departure from Cincinnati under the real Roebling Bridge.
A peek through one of the round windows on that level shows a bit of Devou Park Golf Course and offers a sense of the pleasant setting mentioned earlier. Beside it are some of the museum’s original displays of the area’s natural history.
I knew they had to exist somewhere, but commodes of the past aren’t displayed all that often. Child-sized ones seem particularly rare. Just across the hall, the actual available-for-use restrooms have a rustic yet inviting appearance.
The third floor is also where temporary exhibits are displayed. This space is currently occupied by “Treasures From the Attic: 250 Years of Fashion and Furniture”. The middle photo is of Lee Meriwether’s costume from an appearance in Star Trek, along with her 1955 Miss America trophy. For some reason, both costume and trophy are currently in the possession of Augusta, KY, native and 2000 Miss America Heather French, as noted here. The gown in the third photo was worn by 1948 Miss America Bebe Shopp.
I took no notes regarding this furniture or this fashion, but each is properly described by placards at the museum.
Among the few pieces of furniture that I did have any thoughts on were these home entertainment systems. The one on the right is quite similar to the one I cranked up my Beatles and Dave Clark 5 LPs on when Dad wasn’t home.
The museum has a nice display on the development of roads in the area. Yes, that’s a Dixie Highway map in the lower part of the information panel. There is a Buick to watch movies (actually old TV commercials) in, and a Studebaker (once the “World’s Largest Vehicle Manufacturer”) hanging from the ceiling.
Obviously, the museum is a first-class operation with outstanding exhibits on the history of northern Kentucky. Ironically, its most infamous exhibit is a two-headed calf that was actually born in Ohio. It is certainly a most unusual creature. The placard in front of the case is here, and the paper inside the case is here.
The calf is there fulltime as are all those informative displays of rivers, roads, rails, runways, and the rest of northern Kentucky. “Treasures From the Attic” is there through August 9, 2026.
That title may look familiar. If so, one reason might be the similarly named Route 66: The First 100 Years, reviewed 
Route 66: 100 Years is an anthology edited by Jim Hinckley of 
Like the beginning pages of many books about historic highways, the introduction includes tales of how the early automobile roads followed native trails, animal migration paths, and train tracks. And it talks about the impact that the popularity of bicycles had on the desire for and development of roads outside of cities toward the end of the 19th century. What makes it a little different from most similar writings is that it provides some details about organizations and specific events during road development during this era of pedal-powered transportation.
The state chapters appear in geographic sequence, east to west, which is the direction most people travel the route. Together, they provide a sort of combination travel guide and history lesson. I’m not talking about a travel guide with turn-by-turn directions, motel phone numbers, and such. However, most towns along the route are mentioned — and US 66 was a great connector of small towns — along with numerous points of interest. There is usually some history given about each town and POI, and there is plenty of history about the route itself.
The book is definitely well-illustrated. I don’t believe there is a single page, besides the index and authors’ bios, without at least one image. These include modern and period photographs, postcards, advertising brochures, and other items. Joe Sonderman supplied some of those postcards and brochures, as did big-time collectors Mike Ward and Steve Rider. I was extremely pleased to see a photo from the collection of the late Laurel Kane included. Many of the modern photos were taken by Jim Hinckley and his wife, Judy. I saw no photos from either Rhys Martin or Greg Hasman, although I know both are excellent photographers. I did see photos from Shutterstock, Alamy, and Getty. I thought both situations were curious, but the final product comes off well.
The quality of the book is quite good. Color and black-and-white images show nicely on the heavyweight glossy pages, and the layout serves them well. All have descriptive cut lines that include source credits. There are numerous sidebars, most with their own images, providing extra information outside of the main text flow.
The individual states that carried US 66 account for eight chapters. The book has nine. Dries Bessels, a resident of the Netherlands, authored a chapter named “Renaissance”. Dries has guided multiple tours down the length of Route 66 and provides an outside-the-country view of the historic road. The “renaissance” he writes about is its emergence as a travel destination for both Americans and foreigners after being bypassed and decommissioned. America, essentially spared the devastation that WWII brought to Europe, was the land of dreams to post-war Europeans, and Route 66 was a tangible thing that rolled right through those dreams. Today, Route 66 is still regarded as a way to experience a diverse range of America.
It’s a beauty. That was my initial thought when I first held this book in my hands and flipped it open. I wasn’t surprised, of course. I’ve seen enough of Jim and Shellee’s work to make me expect great photography and writing, a top-tier knowledge of history, and a rock-solid commitment to quality. I’m not quite as familiar with Reedy Press, but what I have seen smacks of the quality targeted in that previously mentioned commitment. My instant declaration of beauty came from seeing great images accurately reproduced on thick glossy pages. Including the text in my appraisal took only a little more time.
Unlike many other Route 66-related books, Route 66: The First 100 Years is not organized geographically. Nor is it organized chronologically as history books often are. There is a slight hint of chronology in discussing the roads that preceded US 66 in Chapter 1, “Revolutionizing Travel”, and covering “Renaissance” and “Preservation” in the last two chapters. In between, chapter subjects might be eras (e.g., “Hard Times”), collections of people (e.g., “Ladies of Legend”) and businesses (e.g., “Trading Posts and Tourist Traps”), or something else. Whatever the subject, a wide-ranging set of examples is included. But 100 years and 2400+ miles cover a lot of space and time, and anyone with more than a passing familiarity with Route 66 will probably come up with a personal favorite or two that didn’t get included. The selection process could not have been easy, but the selections are excellent.
Every chapter, like the vast majority of real-life road trips, has a “Detour”. The book’s detours are deep dives into one of the chapter’s subjects, and not all of them are obvious. The detour for the “Revolutionizing Travel” chapter is “The Ozark Trails”. This was an early named auto trail, or actually a system of auto trails, that, in my experience, doesn’t seem to get enough recognition. The “Hard Times” chapter takes a detour into an area that has been overlooked far too often for far too long: “The Green Book and Threatt Filling Station”.
It’s probably not all that surprising that Route 66: The First 100 Years overflows its twelve numbered chapters. It starts with a full page of Acknowledgments, followed by a Forward written by Route 66’s storytelling king, Michael Wallis. Jim and Shellee follow that with a Preamble, then include an Epilogue, Road Facts, and a few other sections after Chapter 12. One of these sections, titled “Happy Trails”, is a collection of roadside photos taken over the Mother Road’s first 100 years. Many are of unidentified travelers, but there are some real celebrities in the mix. There’s Jack Rittenhouse standing beside a California U.S. 66 sign, Lillian Redman by an Arizona 66 sign, and Cynthia Troup gazing at a U.S. 66 sign in New Mexico. As I said earlier, 100 years and 2400+ miles cover a lot of space and time. Jim and Shellee have done an impressive job of capturing the big picture and quite a few of the small picture details, too.
