The Stuffed Pig Cafe and Tourist Court

The Stuffed Pig Cafe and Tourist Court
1627 W Kearney, Springfield MO

1336 W Kearney

Built sometime in the late 1930s, The Stuffed Pig Cafe was famous for its pork tenderloin sandwiches. Starting in 1940, modern tourist cabins began being advertised, with a price of $4/week or $2/day, with private baths and garages. In 1945 a man named John Weatherwax began his association with The Stuffed Pig, and was definitely the owner by 1948.

Tragically, on June 9th, 1959, a fire broke out in the attic of the Stuffed Pig Cafe after repairs were being made to the roof the previous day. Luckily the fire did not spread to the Stuff Pig Motel next door. John Weatherwax was initially undecided if we would rebuild the cafe after the damage, but ultimately decided to auction off what was left to focus of the motel business.

In 1965, John Weatherwax applied for building permits to build a larger motel, eventually called the Glo Motel, and in 1966 held an auction to sell off the original tourist court buildings. A second even greater tragedy occurred on March 8th, 1972. John Weatherwax was stabbed to death in the Glo Motel in an apparent robbery gone wrong. Worse still, no conviction was made in relation to the case; the man charged in the case was aquitted after a hung jury. The Glo Motel furnishings were auctioned off in 1973 and the building was razed.

All traces of The Stuffed Pig Cafe and Motel are gone today. The location is currently a strip mall parking lot, with Hobby Lobby being the anchor store. Many locals still remember the pork tenderloin sandwiches, however.