Downtown Bethany is one of the most vibrant business stretches on the Mother Road
and is home to distinctive boutiques, gift shops, antique malls, and restaurants that occupy the buildings from the early 1900s.

Murals painted by Dr. Bob Palmer tell the story of Bethany’s relationship with Route 66 on the downtown walls of Asbury Street and College Avenue and along NW 38th Street. Dr. Palmer is internationally known as a muralist and lives in Bethany.

Take time to get out of your car and stretch as you view these postcard-type murals.
Bethany is home of Southern Nazarene University, Southwest Christian University, and The Children’s Center, a private, non-profit pediatric hospital serving children with disabilities.

On the west end of Bethany, take a brief detour to cross the recently refurbished 1924
Lake Overholser steel truss bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and mentioned in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.