Steele: Former Hotels and the Highway 61 Arch

If you’re looking for a hotel in Steele, exploring the town’s historical connections can help put your destination into context. Local themes range from former lodging and commerce to wartime use and the Highway 61 Arch on the Missouri-Arkansas border. You’ll encounter former hotel names as well as the history of how individual buildings and a highway were used and constructed.

Former Hotels and Building Uses

The New Commercial Hotel occupied the upper floor of a building in Steele, while a retail store was located on the ground floor. The building was sold to Fannie Green in 1924. This layout illustrates how different floors were used at the time for lodging and commerce. Another name from Steele’s former hospitality industry is Hotel-Main: Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Prince operated it until 1929. The two examples offer different insights. The New Commercial Hotel highlights the building’s use and its sale, while Hotel-Main brings its operators and its operating period through 1929 into focus.

Main Street: Café, Commerce, and a Newspaper

From 1926 to 1929, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. McCollum ran the McCollum Cafe on Main Street. Workman’s Drug Store on Main Street is also part of the neighborhood’s history; the business was formerly known as People’s Drug Store. A building in Steele once housed the newspaper Steele Enterprise. A photograph of Main Street also dates from between 1926 and 1929. The café, drugstore, and newspaper represent different aspects of urban life at the time: dining, retail, and news. The café’s operating period and the Main Street photograph share a common time frame.

Wartime and Industrial Use

The former shoe factory in Steele reflects a different chapter. During World War II, it was used for a business that manufactured wooden boxes. This business remained in Steele for eight years; afterward, a decision was made to consolidate the operations in Steele and Caruthersville. The focus here is on the conversion of a former factory building and the subsequent decision. This sets this part of the town’s history apart from the former hotels and businesses, where lodging and commerce are the defining themes.

The Highway 61 Arch as a Border Marker

The Highway 61 Arch spans U.S. Highway 61 on the Arkansas-Missouri border, between Blytheville, Arkansas, and Steele, Missouri. The inscriptions “Entering Arkansas” and “Entering Missouri” appear on opposite sides of the arch. It was built in 1924, after the highway was paved. Its location and inscriptions give the structure a clear connection to the border. Its date also distinguishes it from the factory’s history: the Arch dates to 1924, while the shoe factory’s use for wooden-box manufacturing took place during World War II.

Another Point of Interest

Joe A. Saliba Park is one of the City of Steele’s LWCF projects. This adds a named municipal project to the examples of former lodging, commerce, and industry. For planning your trip, these different connections offer several ways to explore Steele’s history, from everyday life in buildings on Main Street to the border along Highway 61.

Discover More Destinations: Caruthersville, Hayti

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