I've never understood the romanticism of ruthless killers and the tourist marketing of their sites but it would have been very cool for the Red Crown Tavern to still be in place just becuase of its architecture and its role as a gateway to Kansas City from the north.
Following up on yesterday's post about some historical bridges, I saw on some of the sites where the Platte County Courthouse has a historical marker because of the adventures of Bonnie and Clyde.
The Platte County Landmark ran a four-part story on the gang's involvement in Platte County and according to their article, Clyde's sister in law Blanche Barrow was tried at the Courthouse after a shoot out. That led me to a couple of sites that detailed the gang's activities in Platte County.
The gang used the Red Crown Tavern and its cabins as a hideout. The sites have some detailed information about the Tavern and its location and get the credit for the photo below.
The Tavern was located at the KCI Airport/Cookingham and I-29 interchange which would make sense since that was the intersection of US 71 and Bypass 71. This would have been a key stop for folks coming from the north and deciding whether to drive through the city or through the county by going through the podunk Liberty and Lee's Summit.
Bypass 71 eventually turned into Route 291 or Cookingham Drive.
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