Illinois Lincoln Highway

Illinois Lincoln Highway. Architecture Along the Highway. , Improved roads in the 1900s, like the Lincoln Highway, contributed to the rise of Industrialism in America. This brought the period known as the Gilded Age. Business leaders amassed enormous wealth and built elaborate homes, theaters, local government buildings, banks and hotels. Cities and towns would highlight the highway in various ways by placing their most prominent buildings and attractions along the roadway such as: parks, war memorials, a town square, decorative arches spanning the highway and homes all portraying distinct styles., Architecture was not merely for aesthetic effect, it was often meant to create a particular environment to attract visitors to places or events. With America's increased appreciation for the arts and entertainment, lavish theaters and opera houses were constructed. In Illinois stellar examples of such architecture are found in three grand atmospheric theaters along the highway., [Captions:] , The Rialto Square Theater, opened in Juliet in 1926, reflects Greek, Roman and Byzantine architecture. The inner lobby is designed after the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. The arch between the lobby and rotunda area was carefully copied from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the center is the head of the goddess Athena. The pride of the Rialto is its original "golden voiced" Barton Grande Theatre Pipe Organ. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Rialto is known as "the Jewel of Joliet" operating as a not-for-profit performing arts center., Dekalb is home to one of the more incredible architectural style theaters, the Egyptian Theater, built in Egyptian Revival Style 1929. The structure is covered with light sage terra cotta and features a 20 foot tall stained glass window bearing the ancient sacred scarab, holding up the sun god Ra while standing on the earth. The entrance of the theater is shaped like the gate of a great temple. The Egyptian theme continues inside with interior design reflecting that of royal Egypt containing mosaic tile, tall pillars, plaster urns and adorned cornices. Though the DeKalb Egyptian Theatre is one of up to 100 Egyptian-style theatres built in the early 20th century, it is believed to be one of only six remaining in the United States., The Paramount Theater opened in Aurora, Illinois in 1931, as the first air-conditioned movie palace outside of Chicago. Designed by the famed architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp, Paramount Pictures used this structure as a prototype to build many more movie palaces across the nation. The theater boasts an unusual but stunning hybrid of Art Deco and French Renaissance. A brick face covers the exterior with an elaborate octagonal tower rising above the front entrance. Detailed in color-glazed terra cotta, the tower is capped with an orange tile roof. The lavish interior portrays a Venetian setting combining murals with Art Deco detailing.