Pic of the Week: Wind Farm South of Odell, IL

Each Sunday, I'll start posting a "Pick of the Week" for your viewing pleasure. Here's a picture I snapped while driving on old Route 66, between Pontiac and Odell. I just loved how the barn, wind turbine and moon all lined up. Enjoy....

Historic Route 66: Odell, IL

The final stop on this particular sightseeing tour of Route 66 was tiny Odell, IL.

Odell lies about halfway between Pontiac and Dwight, and is a town of about 1,000 people. In fact, it's been stuck at that population since around 1900.

Driving up to Odell from Pontiac, I came upon (and photographed) a barn that advertised the "Meramac Caverns." The interesting thing about this is that the caverns are more than 270 miles away in Stanton, MO. This barn-side advertisement is a reminder of the old ads that used to grace the "Mother Road" luring visitors from Chicago to tourist traps throughout mid- and southwest.

The town was featured on an October 2006 edition of the USA Food Network's "Riding Old Route 66" program, which highlighted the historic Standard Oil Station, which we feature in our photos. The station was constructed in 1932, and restored over the past few decades. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Odell is also home to the very large St. Paul Catholic Church. I mention this because the church seems rather large for a town the size of Odell. What's more, right across Route 66 from the church is an old staircase (now filled in with gravel) that, at one point, descended below ground. An historic marker tells us that this stairway used to lead to a tunnel which lead church parishioners underneath Route 66 to avoid the heavy traffic that once filled the highway.

That fact is hard to believe now, since the highway is now almost empty, and the sleepy town of Odell hasn't seen much car traffic in years.

Enjoy the photos here, and I hope you've enjoyed my series of posts about my trip along the Dwight-Springfield, IL segment of Route 66.

I hope to bring you other Route 66 sights in future posts. Until then, enjoy my upcoming posts from other historic sites from around the Prairie State.

Historic Route 66: Pontiac, IL

I had driven through Pontiac before for some work-related activities and, of course, knew about the state correctional facility located in town.

But I had never stopped to get a glimpse of the really neat downtown area that is so full of history.

First, Pontiac really does roll out the red carpet for Route 66 sightseers like me.

For one thing, the town is home to the Route 66 Association Hall of Fame & Museum which, I'm sad to say, I was closed by the time I came to town. The back alley behind the museum, however, had a number of great murals and and other nostalgic items that I also feature in my photos.

Speaking of murals, Pontiac has twenty of them plastered around town, each of which depicts a little bit of local history. I've was able to capture just a few in my photo set, and I encourage you to click here to view a more complete set of the downtown mural collection.

At the center of downtown Pontiac is the historic Livingston County Courthouse, construction of which began in 1874. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

As with Lincoln and Bloomington, Pontiac was also a stop on the famed 8th Judicial Circuit that was traveled by then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln. In 2006, this Lincoln statue was dedicated on the grounds of the Livingston County Courthouse.

Speaking of Honest Abe, Pontiac was also home to an impromptu debate in 1840 between Lincoln and then-lawyer Stephen Douglas on the banks of the Vermillion River (see photo of the historical marker here.) It's not considered one of the official "Lincoln-Douglas Debates", but it was a debate between these two men, nonetheless, and Pontiac is darn proud to have hosted it.

Pontiac was created by an Act of Congress in 1937 and is named for the Ottawa Indian Chief Pontiac, for whom this memorial sits on the courthouse grounds. Pontiac came to Illinois after gaming notoriety for the "Pontiac's Rebellion" near what is now the city of Detroit, Michigan. That rebellion involved a violent struggle against British occupation in the Great Lakes Region. He continued to encourage rebellion against the British, in Illinois and over in the Ohio Region, until he was murdered near Cahokia, IL (not far from what is now St. Louis) by a Peoria Indian.

In future posts, we'll come back to discussing Pontiac and the Ottawa tribe in Illinois. In the meantime, here is a helpful link that describes in more detail the Indian tribes of Illinois.

Unfortunately, it was getting late, and my trip to Pontiac was all too brief. I'll definitely be back, if only to stop by the Route 66 Museum and try Bernardi's restaurant, which sits on the courthouse square and has a reputation for excellent food.

I was only able to post a few of my photos from Pontiac here, so I encourage you to click here to view my entire collection.

Historic Route 66: Lexington, IL

Lexington, IL is yet another small town along the old Route 66 — but on July 15, 1902, the citizens of this tiny burgh felt like they were at the center of the universe. That's the day President Theodore Roosevelt rolled into town on his train and delivered a stemwinder from the back of the caboose.

As the story goes, President Roosevelt declined to exit the train, telling the host committee, "No, gentlemen, I did not agree to get off the train."

I didn't roll into Lexington on the railroad, but rather along the old "Mother Road" — or, at least, what is left of it. In our last post, we stopped in Towanda. The old Route 66 is incredibly preserved between Towanda and Lexington, running along what could be mistaken for the southbound lanes of the county highway that currently exists.

Coming into Lexington, I stopped at a little historic marker, with a sign and a "Mother Road" flag that signaled the small town's pride in the historic highway. Lexington has converted much of the old Route 66 into a bicycle/walking path and, from the looks of it, the old road was a popular exercise destination for local residents.

I didn't stop at the town's only historic site — the John Patton Log Cabin. This log cabin, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built by one of the town's earliest settlers, John Patton. Patton came to the town in about 1829 and befriended the local Native Americans of the Kickapoo tribe. The preserved cabin now sits in a city park in Lexington.

Just north of Lexington is a preserved section of the old Route 66, designated as "Memory Lane." The town opens up this section of the road to automobiles during the town's annual Route 66 festival, car show and parade. I've featured some photos of "Memory Lane" here.

After my quick trip down "Memory Lane" ... I started up the car again, and headed toward Pontiac.

Historic Route 66: Towanda, IL

During my many trips to Springfield over the past fifteen years, I've driven past the tiny town of Towanda many times. This was the time I finally stopped to check it out.

It's a must-stop for any Route 66 sightseer — not because of any key historic sites, but because of the obvious work the town has put into building a shrine to the "Mother Road."

As you can see from the pictures I've included in the slideshow below, Towanda has preserved what is left of the old Route 66 and build an outdoor museum along a 3.5-mile stretch of the road. There are a series of kiosks along the preserved road that tell the history of Route 66 and Towanda's part in that history.

As for the town, Towanda was founded, in part, by a well-known land developer named Jesse W. Fell. According to Wikipedia, Fell also had a hand in founding other Illinois towns, including Clinton, Dwight, Normal, Pontiac, and was the driving force behind the establishment of the school that would become Illinois State University (which is located in nearby Normal, IL)

I wasn't able to fit all of my Towanda photos in this post. You can click here to view all my photos.

Historic Route 66: Chenoa, IL

Our next stop along Route 66 was the small town of Chenoa. We've included some pics here of our quick stop.

Chenoa is home to the state historic site home of Matthew T. Scott -- the de facto founder of the town.

Scott was a local "agriculturist" and real estate developer. He was born in Kentucky and spent some time in Ohio before coming to central Illinois to develop farmland. As part of that effort, he created the town of Chenoa, which was officially founded in 1854.

A little later in his career, he also founded the McLean County Coal Company, in partnership with Adlai Stevenson I, whose grave we visited in this post.

According to Wikipedia, "the area surrounding Chenoa boasts some of the richest soil in the world," rivaled only be patches of farmland in Argentina, the Ukraine, and along the Yellow River in China."

The population of Chenoa was 1,851 in 2009, and the town is currently home to antique dealers and a handful of small manufacturers.

Closing the loop on Bloomington

Just to close the loop on my trip through Bloomington (read my previous posts here and here), it's a great city, with a lot more history than what I saw on my brief stop.

I encourage you to visit the Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Web site to learn more about how you can visit these great historic sites.

One fun, non-historic site I stopped by during my trip is the Beer Nuts Factory. Yes, the world famous Beer Nuts are made right here in Illinois in the city of Bloomington. Click here to view the company's history.

A few days after my Route 66 trip, my family and I circled back to Bloomington visit the Miller Park Zoo — and we were not disappointed. We have three small children, so the zoos in Chicago always end up being overwhelming, due to large crowds, traffic, and the sheer size of the parks.

No so with the Miller Park Zoo. It's the perfect size (our entire visit lasted about 90 minutes) and they have some great exhibits. They have giant tortoises, a petting zoo, wolves, an American bald eagle, red pandas, a tiger, a bear, a sea lion, a river otter and leopard — and more. Perhaps best of all, they're located in a great park with a splash pad right outside the zoo. Pack a picnic and swim trunks and head to Bloomington for an fun — and inexpensive — outing with the kids.

Click here to view more about the Miller Park Zoo.

Historic Route 66: Bloomington, IL (Part II: David Davis Mansion)

Earlier this week, we posted about our first stop in Bloomington, IL: — the Stevenson graves.

We then headed on over to the historic David Davis Mansion (pictured, right).

As we learned in our tour of the Postville Courthouse, David Davis had served as judge on the same 8th Judicial Circuit (from 1848 to 1862) traveled by then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln. Prior to that, Davis had served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1845 and a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention in McLean County, 1847.

Davis served as a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago, where Lincoln received the nomination for president. Davis went on to serve as Lincoln's campaign manager in that election.

In 1862, Lincoln appointed Davis to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1972, he received the nomination of the Labor Reform Party to be president of the United States — but then dropped out of the contest when he failed to receive the Liberal Republican Party nomination. Ulysses S. Grant, of course, went on to win that election (the U.S. Grant home in Galena, IL, will certainly be a future stop documented on this blog).

In 1977, the Illinois legislature selected Davis to serve as U.S. Senator (senators were not popularly elected in most states in those days), and resigned his seat on the Supreme Court.

During his first and only term as U.S. Senator, he ascended to the President Pro Tempore position, and then retired in 1883 to his home in Bloomington. He died in 1886, and is actually buried at Evergreen Cemetery, which we visited to find the Stevenson graves earlier on our trip.

I invite you to read the full Wikipedia post on Davis' life, which details some key, historic decisions he handed down while on the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, I arrived at the Davis Mansion after it had closed to visitors for the day. I encourage you to visit the historic site's Web site to learn about the ongoing exhibits and events they feature on a regular basis.

Historic Route 66: Bloomington, IL (Part I: Evergreen Cemetery)

The next stop on my Route 66 sightseeing tour: Bloomington, IL.

I have to be honest, by the time I rolled into Bloomington, I was running way behind. There are many more great sites to visit here, and I just hit three "quickies".

First, I stopped at Evergreen Cemetery, which is "home" to the graves of Adlai Stevenson, former Congressman and Vice President under Grover Cleveland (1893-1897). His wife, Letitia Green Stevenson, is also buried at Evergreen.

His son, Adlai Stevenson II, is also buried here. The younger Stevenson served as the Governor of Illinois (1949-1953), Ambassador to the United Nations (1961-1965), and twice served as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Presidency (1952 and 1956).

In addition to his various posts in government and politics, Stevenson is also remembered for his role in helping bring an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. On October 25, 1963, he addressed a special session of the U.N. Security Council, forcefully confronting the Soviet Representative. As Wikipedia reports:

He forcefully asked the Soviet representative, Valerian Zorin, if his country was installing missiles in Cuba, punctuated with the famous demand "Don't wait for the translation, answer 'yes' or 'no'!" Following Zorin's refusal to answer the abrupt question, Stevenson retorted, "I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over." In one of the most memorable moments in U.N. history, Stevenson then showed photographs that proved the existence of missiles in Cuba, just after the Soviet ambassador had implied they did not exist.

You can click here to read the full text of Stevenson's speech to the U.N. Security Council.

Tomorrow, I'll a recap of my next Bloomington stops: the David Davis Mansion and the Beer Nuts Factory (yes, I said the Beer Nuts Factory).

Historic Route 66: Atlanta-McLean, IL

My fourth stop on my sightseeing tour of historic Route 66 was Atlanta, IL, followed by a brief pit stop in McLean. (You can read more about my previous stops: Dwight, Springfield and Broadwell.)

Atlanta featured a number of small treasures, including the J.J. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum, which boasts the oldest wood grain elevator in America. The elevator, which was built in 1904, was abandoned in 1977. Today, it is Illinois' only fully restored, wooden grain elevator museum listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The town also features an historic public library, which is also a National Historic Register Site. Built in 1908, the library features a "classic octagonal design" and "original turn of the century book stacks and furniture." Outside the library sits the Library Clock Tower, which was relocated to the library grounds in the 1970s, after serving as the original clock found in the tower of Atlanta High School.

This quaint town also features some great wall murals that reflect Route 66's "heydey" era -- as well as a 19-foot statue of Paul Bunyon, which was relocated from the town of Cicero, IL (at "Bunyons" Restaurant on Route 66) during the past decade. Due to a large gathering of Harley bikers right in front of the statue during my visit, I was unable to get close enough to the statue to snap a photo.

Just a short drive up Route 66 from Atlanta is the small town of McLean, which is home to the historic Dixie Truck Stop. According to the Illinois Route 66 Association, "In 1928, J.P. Walters and John Geske rented part of a mechanic’s garage here to sell sandwiches to Route 66 travelers and truckers. By the 1930s, the operation had grown to a full-fledged restaurant, cabins,and a cattle pen. The Dixie was owned and operated by the Geske family from 1928-2003 and was only closed one day after a fire in 1965."

I feature some quick photos of the Dixie Truck Stop in the photos slideshow below.

As always, you can click on any photo in the slideshow below to view the full photo and a description. Enjoy.

Historic Route 66: Lincoln, IL

The third stop on my sightseeing trip of historic Route 66 was Lincoln, IL, the fascinating county seat of Logan County.

Please read my previous posts about Dwight, Springfield, Broadwell and Atlanta-McLean.

Upon entering Lincoln, I happened upon the historic Postville Courthouse, which is actually a reproduction of the 1848 courthouse in which then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln frequently argued cases while traveling the 8th Judicial Circuit. At the time, what is now the town of Lincoln was named Postville.

The town changed its name in August 27, 1853 — naming it after Abraham Lincoln, who was then just a popular lawyer. As Wikipedia reports:

The town was officially named on August 27, 1853 in an unusual ceremony. Abraham Lincoln, having assisted with the platting of the town and working as counsel for the newly laid railroad which led to its founding, was asked to participate in a naming ceremony for the town. During the proceedings, Lincoln chose a ripe watermelon from a nearby wagon, broke it open, and squeezed the juice on the grounds, as an informal rite of baptism. The town of Lincoln was the first city named after Abraham Lincoln while he was a lawyer and before he was President of the United States.

In terms of the old Postville Courthouse, it is now a state historic site staffed by wonderful volunteers. The volunteer who was staffing it while I visited — her name is Wilma — provide me with a delightful 45-minute tour of hte courthouse, complete with funny anecdotes and detailed descriptions of the artifacts and furniture contained in the building.

The courthouse that exists today is a 1953 reproduction of the original building, due to the fact that Henry Ford purchased the original courthouse in 1929 and moved it to his estate in Dearborn, Michigan.

Following the courthouse, I made my way to the downtown area of Lincoln, which features its historic Logan County Courthouse, as well as a small monument marking the spot where Abraham Lincoln christened the town with a watermelon.

Please enjoy the photos below. You can click on any photo in the slideshow to view a description summary.

Historic Route 66: Broadwell, IL

My third stop on my sightseeing tour of historic Route 66 was Broadwell, IL. (You can read more about my previous stops: Dwight and Springfield.)

Broadwell was a quick stop, but a fun one. As you can see from the photos below, Broadwell was once home to the famous Pig Hip Restaurant, which was open from 1937 to 1991. It served as a museum until 2007, when it was destroyed by a fire.

The proprietor of the restaurant, Ernie Edwards, worked there during the operation's entire 54-year run. Ernie's house still stands adjacent to the site and purports to be a museum, but the house was for sale and I didn't see a sign of anyone. All that remains on the actual restaurant site are the "Pig Hip" sign, some stone markers, a mural of how the restaurant and adjoining motel once looked, and the remains of the motel (photos below).

As of the 2000 Census, Broadwell only had 169 residents (it may very well be less now), but, amazingly, this small town has sent two residents to the Illinois General Assembly during the past half-century: John R. ("Jack") Lauer served as state representative from 1973 to 1978, and Robert F. ("Bob") Olson served as state representative from 1986 to 1994. You can read more about Broadwell, IL on its Wikipedia page.

Historic Route 66: Springfield, IL

Yesterday, I posted photos from the first stop -- Dwight, IL -- on my Illinois Route 66 sightseeing trip from earlier this week. After Dwight, I sped down to Springfield for a business meeting, but spent some time afterward touring some of the historic landmarks in the state capital.

I certainly didn't scratch the surface of all the sites, but visited some of the sites I hadn't been to since I was a kid. I didn't visit the popular Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, because I've been there numerous times before and was on a time crunch to work my way back home up scenic Route 66.

Enjoy the photos! I continue to post a new photo set each day. You can click on any of the photos on the following slideshow to view more detail and a description of each:

Historic Route 66: Dwight, IL

Yesterday, I decided to turn an ordinary business trip to Springfield, IL (normally about a 2.5 hour drive from my home) into a sightseeing trip along historic Route 66. Over the next week, I'll post photos from that trip.

My first stop was in Dwight, IL, a short 20 minute drive from my house. We've been to Dwight many times for their annual Harvest Days Festival, and I've run in the Harvest Days 5k a number of times. But I had no idea that starting line for that race was located in a park that once served as the hunting grounds for the King of England!

Or that the First National Bank of Dwight was one of only 3 banks designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

There's some other great history in Dwight that I tried to capture in some my photos. I invite you to read more about each of these items at the following Wikipedia:

• Dwight, IL
• John R. Oughton House
• Ambler's Texaco Gas Station
• First National Bank of Dwight