In 1913, Carl Fisher proposed the Coast to Coast Rock Highway. Eager to put America on wheels, executives from automobile and tire manufacturers quickly joined in the effort. At the inaugural meeting on July 1, 1913, the newly elected President, . . . — — Map (db m230819) HM
This road followed an Indian trail that began in Chicago and went through DuPage, Kane, De Kalb, Boone, and Winnebago Counties to a Winnebago Village at Beloit, Wisconsin. In August, 1832, during the Black Hawk War, United States Army reinforcements . . . — — Map (db m47438) HM
The Chicken Basket was established in 1946 born out of a gas station next door that sold fried chicken. It was a Blue Bird bus stop as well as a restaurant and used to have ice skaters on the roof to attract Route 66 travelers. It became Dell . . . — — Map (db m157104) HM
Most businesses on Route 66 began as combinations of gas stations, garages, and lunch counters. At the Chicken Basket, tasty food won out over gasoline sales. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, hungry travelers flocked to the popular restaurant. But in . . . — — Map (db m157100) HM
One of the original Milestones which marked the trail from Vincennes to Chicago.
This stone was No. 93 which designated the number of miles from Vincennes. — — Map (db m11651) HM
One of the original Milestones which marked the Trail from Vincennes to Chicago.
This stone was No. 97 which designated the number of miles from Vincennes. — — Map (db m11658) HM
Paris lies in the heart of a rich farming area. Most of the land embraced in Edgar County, including Paris, remained Kickapoo hunting grounds until 1819, but the eastern quarter of the county was part of a tract ceded by the Indians in 1809 and . . . — — Map (db m188363) HM
During the late 1800s, communities on the National Road were watching a new path to prosperity make its way across Illinois. By the time J.W. Conlogue, a superintendent with the St. Louis, Vandalia and Terre Haute Railroad, platted Altamont in 1870, . . . — — Map (db m169991) HM
The National Road, sometimes called the
Cumberland Road or the Old Pike. Ran from
Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois
the Illinois portion of the road was begun
in 1830 and opened in the summer of 1838
it extended 89 miles from the . . . — — Map (db m161424) HM
From 1871 to 2007, this courthouse was the heart of Effingham County government. For many cities on the National Road, a courthouse promised growth and prosperity. For others, it stood as silent testimony that fortunes change, and promises aren't . . . — — Map (db m152529) HM
In 1870, the St. Louis, Vandalia and Terre Haute rail line replaced the National Road as the fastest, most reliable route across Illinois. Drummers, or traveling salesmen, rode the rails from one town to the next.
At the depot, the drummers' . . . — — Map (db m152531) HM
They traveled West by horse and wagon, oxen and Conestoga, and by foot. They represented a staggering assortment of crafts, talents and trades. They emigrated from Germany in search of affordable land, economic opportunity, and political and . . . — — Map (db m152530) HM
Nearly 100 years before Brownstown businesses offered fuel, food, and lodging to motorists following US 40 across America, there was Ezra Griffith and Twin Pumps.
A New York native, Griffith followed the National Road to Fayette County, Ill., . . . — — Map (db m144228) HM
St. Elmo's history is rooted in the dust of a settlement named Howard's Point. Hamlets like Howard's Point relied on the National Road to sustain their businesses.
Some of these small settlements grew into cities. Others faded as their . . . — — Map (db m144229) HM
Vandalia was the western terminus of the Cumberland or National Road which extended eighty feet wide for 591 miles from Cumberland, Maryland through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Illinois construction by the Federal Government began in 1811 and . . . — — Map (db m42345) HM
Abraham Lincoln traveled past this spot while he served as a state representative in Vandalia. This location marks the route of a road that ran from Vandalia to Springfield, Illinois. Traces of the roadway are still visible today. The roadway . . . — — Map (db m42527) HM
In 1828 Joseph Shriver surveyed the National Road from Indiana to the Illinois capital at Vandalia. Between the Wabash and Kaskaskia rivers, he found little more than wilderness.
By the mid-1830s, the National Road had spawned settlements in . . . — — Map (db m144226) HM
Come inside and live the story of the Historic National Road, the road that built the nation. Just thirty years after declaring independence from the British, the young nation was feeling the growing pains of westward expansion. President Thomas . . . — — Map (db m144185) HM
The Ottawa Travel Road begins in Danville. Of prehistoric origin it was used until the early 1850's. It wandered northwest following higher ground, fording streams and detouring around seasonal obstructions. Here at Ten Mile Grove it divided, one . . . — — Map (db m157152) HM
Lewistown Trail, from Springfield to Galena via Lewistown, was one of the main routes to the Galena Lead Mines from 1827 to 1837. The Trail crossed the Illinois River at Havana, where Ossian M. Ross, the founder of Lewistown, operated a ferry. He . . . — — Map (db m129216) HM
Jonathan Boone, an older brother of the famous pathfinder Daniel Boone, built a mill on this site about 1800. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1730 and died here about 1808. His son Joseph continued to operate the mill. In 1813 Joseph was named to . . . — — Map (db m177836) HM
In 1816 Congress appropriated $8000 to survey and construct a road from Kaskaskia on the Mississippi to Shawneetown on the Ohio. It became an important East-West thoroughfare for settlers entering the Illinois Territory. At this point the Goshen . . . — — Map (db m154635) HM
Thank you to Bob and Peggy Kraft for donating this Route 66 Hall of Fame streetcar to Gardner.
The Krafts provided years of food, fun and nostalgia at their Riviera Roadhouse located on Route 66. The Riviera unfortunately burned down on June 8, . . . — — Map (db m159247) HM
This road was a main route of travel after 1808. It ran in a northwesterly direction from Shawneetown via the U.S. Salines (Salt Works) to near Edwardsville. Most of the early settlements were along the Goshen Road which crosses Illinois Highway 14 . . . — — Map (db m178562) HM
Gilbert Griswold Jr., pioneer teacher, surveyor, and Justice of the Peace, founded Walpole in 1857. He was born 4-16-1788 in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, and died 11-10-1866 and was buried with his family on their farm near Walpole. He was the . . . — — Map (db m146185) HM
This is the site of the original survey stone for Nauvoo, the "city beautiful," founded by church members in 1839 after they were forced to leave Missouri. All streets of the city were platted from this point. The two widest streets in Nauvoo at the . . . — — Map (db m68890) HM
On June 24, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum Smith set out for Carthage accompanied by John Taylor, Williard Richards and others to answer false charges. They left Nauvoo traveling a road that ran directly from Nauvoo to Carthage, a distance of 16 miles. It . . . — — Map (db m244074) HM
On May 2, 1984, God blessed the world with Bobbi Kristen Keller at a young age Bobbi developed the dream of becoming a whale and dolphin trainer. She began her school career here in Geneseo at age 5. After graduating from J.D. Darnall Senior High . . . — — Map (db m160099) HM
This East-West road crossing Route 78 is one of the few intact segments of the Great Sauk Trail from the Mississippi River to Lake Erie. It was blazed along this glacial moraine by buffalo thousands of years ago as they traveled around Lake Wenno, . . . — — Map (db m213646) HM
For many years Butterfield Trail was one of the main routes from East Central Illinois to the Chicago area. In 1831 Ben Butterfield marked out the rail from Danville to Lockport where he had settled the previous year. The trail crossed Spring Creek . . . — — Map (db m164819) HM
This tablet, erected in the Spring of 1936, marks the Old Hubbard Trail, which forded Sugar Creek at this point. In this angle of ground between the ford and the trail there stood 100 years ago a pioneer grist mill. Thus giving the name the Mill . . . — — Map (db m17873) HM
The Goshen Road was one of the main arteries of travel in the early 1800's, when Illinois was frontier country. The road ran in a Northwesterly direction from Shawneetown to Edwardsville - A distance of more than 150 miles. Shawneetown and . . . — — Map (db m88993) HM
Beyond the river banks
The quick ride across the Brussels Ferry opens to a world of pristine countryside, flowering hillsides and a slow-paced lifestyle for which Calhoun County has become known during every season of the year.
. . . — — Map (db m225178) HM
Aurora was the first city along the Lincoln Highway with street lights and was among the first in the nation to have them also. Yet again, enhancements to the highway spawned new commerce for communities along the road. With street lights, stores . . . — — Map (db m170198) HM
This marker is along the “south leg” of the Elgin road races. Beginning in 1910, many leading drivers and mechanics competed here in grueling tests of speed and endurance that contributed to the development of the modern automobile. . . . — — Map (db m55454) HM
Geneva played an important role in connecting the cities of the Fox River Valley to the Lincoln Highway. The city was eager to cater to the newly motoring public by offering well-lit, paved streets, a stop-and-go light, and a motorcycle policeman . . . — — Map (db m94267) HM
Before there was farmland, there were untamed wetlands. One of the largest in North America was the Grand Kankakee Marsh, which saturated nearly a million acres east of Momence and into northern Indiana. This vast wetland, larger than the Florida . . . — — Map (db m177895) HM
This trail was blazed by Gurdon S. Hubbard, 1822–1824, connecting the trading posts of the American Fur Company between Vincennes and Chicago. Momence, near the upper crossing of the Kankakee River, is on this trail. Known also as the . . . — — Map (db m105838) HM
Ferris Street
named for
Silvanus Ferris
member of the committee
which purchased the site
of Galesburg in 1835
financial agent and
trustee of Knox College — — Map (db m150555) HM
Tompkins Street
named for
Samuel Tompkins
Member of the committee
which purchased the site
of Galesburg in 1835, and
who carried surveyors
chain when the town was
laid out. — — Map (db m150564) HM
Knox County centrally located between the Mississippi the Rock and the Illinois was crossed by trails between the Indian villages on these rivers and by many local trails to villages and camp sites in this county the Indians traveled the best . . . — — Map (db m229828) HM
In the late winter of 1830 a few weeks after his 21st birthday Abraham Lincoln passed this way with his father's family entering the State of Illinois for the first time. — — Map (db m176265) HM
From the 1890s until the 1920s, vitified paving bricks were the dominant choice of American towns and cities, lifting dirt streets from the deeply rutted and muddy conditions that disgusted shoppers and terrified drivers and their horses. Many . . . — — Map (db m230751) HM
Hennepin Avenue was often walked by a young Ronald Reagan from home to downtown and back. The street has four landmark institutions that played a vital role in the development of his character. They include the boyhood home, the grade school, now . . . — — Map (db m78280) HM
The Old Chicago Trail extended from Fort Dearborn to Galena. A government mail route was established along this Indian Trail in 1829. The Potawatomi ceded their territory to the government in 1833. This route became the first east-west stagecoach . . . — — Map (db m199818) HM
This nostalgic barn has been restored by volunteers of the Route 66 Association of Illinois Preservation Committee. August 30, 1998 — — Map (db m157025) HM
The architecture of Dwight has always attracted Route 66 travelers. The Keeley Institute for treating alcoholism was founded here and brought the Village national attention. As the institute gained popularity, Dwight became a “model . . . — — Map (db m158401) HM
Built in 1933, Ambler's Texaco was the longest operating service station to pump gas on historic Route 66.
Recognized by Hampton Hotels Save-A-Landmark program as a site worth seeing — — Map (db m189147) HM
(front:)
Route 66, the Mother Road, is an American icon that symbolizes romance and freedom of the open road. Born in 1926, Route 66 was one of the first numbered U.S. highways, journeying 2,500 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Today, . . . — — Map (db m158308) HM
The Ambler-Becker Texaco Station operated longer than any service station on Route 66. It was run by local families for 66 years, from 1933-1999. Flats were fixed, breakdowns towed, and at times, the spirits of weary travelers restored. . . . — — Map (db m158375) HM
During the heyday of Route 66 from the 1930s to the 50s, there were no motel chains. Instead, local families operated small campgrounds, cabins, and motor courts. The Paulsen-Strufe Motel, built in 1935, was more than just a place to stay; it . . . — — Map (db m158384) HM
Lions Lake is a testament to the changing face of Route 66. Dwight started as a farming community on the Chicago & Alton Railroad. When automobiles began replacing horses, people demanded better roads. Borrow pits, like Lions Lake, supplied the . . . — — Map (db m158382) HM
This restoration is a project of the Route 66 Association of Illinois Preservation Committee. Identified November 9, 1997 on the National Register of Historic Places. — — Map (db m157019) HM
From 1926 to 1946 this road was known as the "Mother Road" or Route 66
During this period traffic was so congested that it became necessary to build an underground passage to safely cross church goers and school children. You are now standing . . . — — Map (db m157023) HM
This venerable old bridge enters its golden years serving slow traffic on a city street, but it started life in the fast lane of the "hard road." In 1924, Illinois Route 4 became the first paved road to connect Chicago with St. Louis. Only two . . . — — Map (db m158825) HM
Civic leaders welcomed Route 66 through Pontiac in 1926 as a boon for business. However, parents were concerned about their children crossing this "dangerous speedway.' As a solution, the State Highway Commission excavated a tunnel under the . . . — — Map (db m158311) HM
The original bridge was built in 1926 as part of Route 4. On November 11, 1926, the alignment of Route 4 through Pontiac became US Route 66. In early days, the highways were marked with paint using a stencil on utility poles and on bridge end posts. . . . — — Map (db m157015) HM
You are traveling on one of the most famous roads in the world. On September 25, 2005, Illinois Route 66 was designated as a National Scenic Byway by the U.S. Department of Transportation. — — Map (db m158309) HM
Route 66 has become a nostalgic symbol of Americana. This display honors just one of the many mom & pop businesses that served weary travelers on the Mother Road. At it's original location, many thousands of people from around the world stopped to . . . — — Map (db m163373) HM
For decades the bricks to build this pathway were covered by asphalt on Washington St. in Pontiac. They were unearthed during a road work project in 2008. Until 1930 this stretch of Washington Street was the detour route for Illinois Route 4 (SBI . . . — — Map (db m163376) HM
Route 66 was one of the most dangerous roads in the nation, earning it the nickname “Bloody 66.” From this District 6 Headquarters building, State Police patrolled the hard road between Dwight and McLean. They enforced safety laws . . . — — Map (db m158312) HM
(front:)
Route 66, the Mother Road, is an American icon that symbolizes romance and freedom of the open road. Born in 1926, Route 66 was one of the first numbered U.S. highways, journeying 2,500 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Today, . . . — — Map (db m158306) HM
This building was home to state troopers who risked their lives every day patrolling Route 66.
By the 1940s, Route 66 carried more traffic than any other highway in the state. The Illinois District 6 State Police Headquarters was built . . . — — Map (db m158812) HM
Bob Waldmire was born near Springfield in 1945. His prolonged passion for Route 66 began in 1962 when his parents took the entire family on a motoring trip to California via Route 66. During that trip, Bob fell in love with the Mother Road and all . . . — — Map (db m163377) HM
Route 66 provided a steady income for family businesses like Joe and Victor "Babe" Selotis' Log Cabin Inn. Joe barbecued beef and pork on a spit out back, while Babe filled gas tanks and fixed flats. When Route 66 was relocated to the backside . . . — — Map (db m158821) HM
The Illinois State Police was formed in 1922 to protect motorists.
Twenty officers patrolled the state on surplus World War I Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Radio-equipped cycles revolutionized communications in the 1930s. The ISP shifted . . . — — Map (db m158810) HM
Designed by Bill Diaz of Pontiac, Illinois, the "Atlanta: Midway on Illinois' Mother Road" mural captures the spirit of Atlanta's place on Rt. 66. Located approximately 150 miles from both Chicago and St. Louis, Atlanta occupies a central spot in . . . — — Map (db m160819) HM
In its early days, weekly dances and bingo nights accompanied the blue-plate specials served at the Palms Grill Cafι. The "Grill" was also Atlanta's Greyhound bus-stop. You just turned the light on above the door if you wanted the bus to pick you . . . — — Map (db m160588) HM
During the heyday of Rt. 66, travelers passed hundreds of signs, murals, and other forms of roadside advertising, each hoping to grab its share of attention. Among the more famous of these stood the fiberglass giants created during the 1960s by . . . — — Map (db m160586) HM
Atlanta boomed when Route 66 was built in the 1920s.
It didn't last. By 1947 the busy road was rebuilt to bypass town to the east. New businesses flourished on the bypass only to fail again when I-55 replaced the Mother Road in 1977. . . . — — Map (db m162545) HM
Operated for over 54 years by Ernest L. Edwards, Jr. & Family
Home of the celebrated Pig Hip Sandwich - baked fresh pork with tomato & lettuce on a toasted bun with the secret sauce
The Pig Hip Restaurant Museum with Ernie's fine personal . . . — — Map (db m156868) HM
Abraham Lincoln and later political opponent, Stephen A. Douglas, converse in front of Richard Latham's Kentucky House located on the southwest slope of what is known as Elkhart Hill. The Kentucky House was built by Latham (center) in 1828 on what . . . — — Map (db m159588) HM
Downtown businesses thrived when Route 66 ran through Elkhart. In 1938, The House by the Side of the Road cafe had an unforgettable customer when actress Shirley Temple stopped for lunch. Afterward, owner J. Smith put a cardboard likeness of the . . . — — Map (db m156874) HM
(front:)
Route 66, the Mother Road, is an American icon that symbolizes romance and freedom of the open road. Born in 1926, Route 66 was one of the first numbered U.S. highways, journeying 2,500 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Today, . . . — — Map (db m158187) HM
Abraham Lincoln practiced law here from 1840-1847. This site is located on the original alignment of Route 66 through Lincoln, Illinois. Free admission. — — Map (db m156851) HM
Route 66 promised travelers fun and adventure along the road. The Railsplitter Covered Wagon honors Abraham Lincoln in the only town named for him before he became president. It holds the Guinness World Record as the largest covered wagon and . . . — — Map (db m159307) HM
The Mill opened in 1929 on the original alignment of Route 66, it became famous as a sandwich stand and then a Bar/Restaurant. The Mill is now being restored as a museum. Open by appointment. — — Map (db m156855) HM
A Family Business - The Early Years
Vince Schwenoha opened the Tropics in 1950, naming it in remembrance of his military tour of duty spent in Hawaii. In 1951, Lewis Lee Johnson came to Lincoln from Macomb, Illinois as a meat cutter with . . . — — Map (db m159304) HM
The road beside this wayside exhibit is West Main Street. It was one of the main routes into and out of the City of Decatur all during the time of Lincoln's travels as a lawyer on the Eighth Judicial Circuit, the main system of justice . . . — — Map (db m56875) HM
From the site of the Lincoln cabin on the Sangamon three miles south of here, to the Wabash River opposite Vincennes, the Lincoln National Memorial Highway follows substantially the route taken by the Lincoln family in their migration from Indiana . . . — — Map (db m55617) HM
During the historical period, the earliest inhabitants of the present-day community of Bunker Hill were the Peoria, Kickapoo, and Winnebago Indians who established an encampment near North Washington and West Morgan Streets. Another Native American . . . — — Map (db m143178) HM
Route 66, the Mother Road, is an American icon that symbolizes romance and freedom of the open road. Born in 1926, Route 66 was one of the first numbered U.S. highways, journeying 2,500 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Today, you can still "get . . . — — Map (db m144544) HM
The first hard road connecting Chicago and St. Louis passed through the heart of Carlinville. In 1926, Route 66 opened from Chicago to Los Angeles and followed Route 4 through Illinois. The “Mother Road” Circled the Carlinville Square . . . — — Map (db m144482) HM
This is the second oldest building on the Square. It was built in 1854 and was also the first building on the Square to be three stories tall.
In 1924, Greek immigrant Pete Adam opened the Ariston Restaurant here. Business boomed two years . . . — — Map (db m144480) HM
(2332 E. Side Square)
A hallmark of Route 66 in Illinois, the Ariston Cafι was originally established in Carlinville in 1924.
Continue to Trail 1 or Trail 2 to Site 4. Continue east down East Main Street to 210 East Main . . . — — Map (db m229837) HM
This was the scene at this corner in the years 1926 -1930. The Dippold Drug Store was a thriving business located on this corner during these years when Route 66 ran through Gillespie.
Prominent Gillespie resident, Lincoln Loveless, and his . . . — — Map (db m195484) HM WM
Russell Soulsby built this station in 1926 with his father, Henry
He ran it with his sister Ola until 1991. For its 65 years of operation; they only sold Shell gasoline. — — Map (db m138433) HM
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