Shop at Williams' Store (Eisler Brothers Old Riverton Store), Riverton, Kansas

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Williams' Store is a historic store located along Old U.S. Route 66 in Riverton, Kansas. Leo Williams built the store in 1925, the year before Route 66 was designated. It sold everything from gasoline, to groceries, to general merchandise. Customers could buy shoes, clothes, and food staples such as ice, milk, eggs, bread, fresh meat, canned food, and penny candy, as well as bulk foods such as lard, peanut butter, and vinegar. Williams and his wife Lora sold chili and barbecue beef to travelers on Route 66, and the store also had a gas station. Signs on the building from this time read, “Y Not Eat Williams Bar-B-Q and General Merchandise”, and by the time Route 66 passed its front door in 1926, many people did. Leo Williams leased the store to Lloyd Paxon in 1945; Leo died before the lease expired, so after it did Lora ran the store until 1970. Operating continuously since that time, the store is now known as Nelson’s Old Riverton Store and continues to serve both travelers and local residents alike. This place was the inspiration for the Route 66 songs for the Pixar movie Cars. The store was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 29, 2003.

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