Text by Tammie

  Route 66 traveled near Mount Olive, Illinois, a couple of times. Route 66 went through Mount Olive from 1930-40.   Route 66 ran around Mount Olive to the north from 1940-77. Today, there is “a key historic Route 66 pairing” – the Union Miners Cemetery that includes a monument for the labor activist known as “Mother” Mary Harris Jones and the inactive Soulsby’s Service – the oldest, most original service station along Route 66 not completely rebuilt. Want to learn more? Please click here .

  Dead Man’s Curve on the original Route 66 constructed around Towanda, Illinois, in 1927 has an infamous past. Dead Man’s Curve was known for “its many accidents during the 1930s, 40s, and early 50s.” Several sad fatalities. Today, Dead Man’s Curve is an attraction. Today, another section of Route 66 has been maintained as the Towanda Route 66 Parkway, a walking/biking trail. More here .

  Fire destroyed the Coliseum Ballroom in 2011 in Benld, Illinois. Since its establishment in 1924, the Coliseum Ballroom had been an active place. Bootleggers, racketeers and great bands went there. Today, the Coliseum Ballroom, along with the empty Canna Theatre located in Gillespie, Illinois, are entertainment artifacts, revealing insights into the past on Route 66. To learn more, click here .

  In the 1930s, Bloomington, Illinois, contractor William W. Sprague completed a building that became more than a gas station. What Sprague called “Sprague [sic] Super Service” at 305 E. Pine St. in Normal, Illinois, also was a restaurant, garage and apartments on Old Route 66. Today, the building houses a gift shop. Today, it’s listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Want to learn more? Click here .

  Visitors to Litchfield, Illinois, have only steps to walk to see iconic restaurants and a museum on Old Route 66. There’s The Ariston Café plus Jubelt’s Bakery and Restaurant. Information about those eateries is in the Litchfield Museum & Route 66 Welcome Center. The museum and welcome center are on the same property that Vic Suhling built a gas station and erected a “Vic Suhling/Gas for Less" sign.    The sign was refurbished and stands next to the museum and welcome center.   For more, click here .

  A “shadow statue” of a vintage service station attendant stands between the oldest building in McLean, Illinois, and the oldest truck stop in the U.S.   Located at Old Route 66 on U.S. 136 at the Interstate 55 Exit 145 in the village of McLean, Illinois, the “A Home on the Road” interpretive shadow statue and accompanying wayside panel pay tribute to the Dixie Truck Stop across the street and the McLean Depot steps away. The historic McLean Depot is thought to be the oldest building in McLean, which was established in 1855. The depot is on the same parcel of land as the statue at 266 E. Dixie Road. Dixie Truck Stop and Dixie Family Restaurant are at 315 E. Dixie Road across the street from the two-dimensional iron statue.   As it stands, the shadow statue is a perpetual “greeter.” More is here .