Springfield sits in the Ozarks of southwest Missouri, a city known as the Queen City of the Ozarks and the Birthplace of Route 66. The Mother Road was named here in 1926, and the city's Route 66 landmarks, diners, and museums still draw road trippers. Fantastic Caverns, just north of town, offers a ride-through cave tour, and Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, nearby to the southwest, preserves a Civil War battlefield. Missouri State University gives the city a campus and a lively downtown, and the original Bass Pro Shops store anchors a shopping and outdoor district.