Litchfield, Mt. Olive, and Collinsville, Illinois

As I note in my post on Auburn through Carlinsville,Illinois, Route 66 has two “alignments” south of Springfield, Illinois, that are as much as ten miles apart. When we have a choice of Route 66 alignments, we try to choose the one that looks more interesting--often the older alignment. Here we thought the northern part of the 1926 alignment and the southern part of the 1930s alignment looked interesting, so we decided to experience both. We first drove the 1926 alignment from Springfield to Carlinsville--I shared that leg in my last post. From Carlinsville, we used our GPS to cut over backroads to join the 1930s alignment at Litchfield, which is where this post begins.

Litchfield has two Route 66s, labeled on Google Maps as “Historic Route 66” and “Old Route 66.” They merge at North 13^th Avenue. Old Route 66 has more to see, so we took it into town. We immediately passed the 1951 Skyview Drive-In movie theater with a great neon sign.

Skyview Drive-In sign in Litchfield, Illinois (from CinemaTreasures.org)

Two blocks south, just past Union Avenue, is a Route 66 gem: the 1935 Ariston Café.

Ariston Cafe in Litchfield, Illinois

It’s on the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately we were too full from an earlier lunch to stop here, but I’ve read that the food is great.

About a half a dozen blocks south of the Ariston Café, at 825 Old Route 66, is another Route 66 treasure: the 1936 Belvidere Café, Motel & Service Station, closed since the 1970s, when I-55 opened.

Former Belvidere Cafe, Motel & Service Station in Litchfield, Illinois (from the-route66.com)

This is another Litchfield property on the National Register of Historic Places. One of the reasons it's special is because so much of the entire complex--restaurant, motel, and service station--is still intact, though in deteriorated condition.

About a mile south of the Belvidere, Old Route 66 merges back into Historic Route 66. We followed it about eight miles into Mt. Olive, Illinois. The southbound side of this stretch of Route 66 was built during World War II. The northbound lanes were built in the 1950s.

Just before Mt. Olive, Route 66 splits, with the World War II alignment bending to the right and a 1930-1940 alignment turning left. The 1930-1940 Old Route 66 then bends right (west), then left (south) through Mt. Olive. Two blocks south of West Main Street, at 710 West 1^st South Street, is yet another Route 66 gem, the beautifully restored 1926 Soulsby Service Station.

Soulsby Service Station in Mt. Olive, Illinois

It’s also on the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately it was closed when we visited, but we got a kick out of the old car lift with a tree growing through it!

Car lift at the Soulsby Station in Mt. Olive, Illinois

From the Soulsby Station, we stayed on Old Route 66 until it merged into the newer alignment about two miles south of town. About a half mile later, bear right (southwest) to go back onto the 1930-1940 Route 66 alignment.

Old Route 66 bends around the perimeter of Staunton, Illinois, and passes Henry's Rabbit Ranch, with a replica of an old gas station and a collection of kitsch.

Henry's Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, Illinois (from TrailerLife.com)

Between the Rabbit Ranch and St. Louis, Missouri, Route 66 gets really complicated. I’ve mentioned throughout this blog that Route 66 has had multiple “alignments” over the years. The St. Louis, Missouri, area is a great example of this. Before 1930, Route 66 crossed the Mississippi on McKinley Bridge, a couple of miles north of the Gateway Arch. From 1936 to 1968, there were two Route 66s through this area. “Bypass Route 66” crossed the Mississippi on the Chain of Rocks Bridge, just south of I-270 and about ten miles north of Saint Louis. “City Route 66” crossed the Mississippi on Eads Bridge, just north of the Gateway Bridge. And so far I’ve just described the Route 66 bridges crossing the Mississippi, not the Route 66 roads leading to the bridges, which resemble a pile of spaghetti.

To be honest, there’s not a lot of vintage Route 66 to be seen on any of these approaches. Vintage Americana is more likely to survive in rural areas than in urban areas. Just two stops appealed to us: the 1929 Chain of Rocks Bridge near Madison, Illinois, and the 1949 World’s Largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville, Illinois. Unfortunately, they’re pretty far apart, so we opted for just one: the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle  at 800 South Morrison Avenue in Collinsville. We used our GPS to get there rather than try to stick to one of the Route 66 alignments.

World's Largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville, Illinois

The catsup bottle is a water tower built for a now-defunct catsup bottling plant. As you can see, it’s been beautifully restored. There’s no parking along South Morrison Avenue, but we found a parking lot about a block south and walked up to take pictures.

From here we again used our GPS to get to our hotel in Saint Louis, because East Saint Louis can be dangerous—it’s not an area we wanted to spend a lot of time in.

While we enjoyed the World's Largest Catsup Bottle, we were sorry to miss the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

Chain of Rocks Bridge near Madison, Illinois (from Route66news.com)

The National Park Service calls it one of the more interesting bridges in America. It was an unusually massive construction project for the 1920s, and it has an interesting quirk: it bends at a 30 degree angle in the middle of the river. (Click the National Park Service link to find out why.) The bridge closed in 1969 and reopened as a biking/hiking trail in 1999.

One of the reasons we decided not to visit the Chain of Rocks Bridge is that every resource I consulted warned that cars parked at either end of the bridge see frequent break-ins, and everything in your vehicle should be stored out of sight in your trunk. We were driving an SUV, so this wasn’t an option. (The bridge has received a grant from the National Park Service for a variety of improvements, including security.) If we had gone, we would have driven to the Chouteau Island Fishing Area just south of the bridge, which offers a great view of the bridge from the shoreline without leaving our car.

Auburn, Girard, Nilwood, and Carlinsville, Illinois

As I note in my page on setting priorities for a Route 66 road trip, there are multiple Route 66s to explore. As traffic grew, new stretches of Route 66 were built to straighten out curves, level out hills, better handle increased traffic, and bypass towns overwhelmed by traffic.

Usually new “alignments” were built near previous alignments, but south of Springfield there are two alignments that are as much as 10 miles apart. The 1926-1930 alignment mostly follows what’s now IL 4, while the 1930s alignment is closer to I-55.

There are great things to see on both alignments, but we didn’t want to backtrack and drive both of them. We split the difference. We drove the 1926 alignment from Springfield to Carlinsville, then cut over to join the 1930s alignment at Litchfield.

About 10 miles south of Springfield is a Route 66 treat: a 1.4 mile stretch of road paved in brick.

Brick highway north of Auburn, Illinois

To find it, about 3 miles before Auburn, Illinois, turn right on Snell Road (on the left side of IL 4 it’s Hambuch Road). The brick road curves left to join IL 18 (Curran Road), which rejoins IL 4.

The National Park Service says this stretch was first paved in concrete around 1921. It was widened and paved with brick in 1932…two years after Route 66 was moved east. I’ve read several possible reasons why this segment was paved in brick. I think the most plausible story is that a local brick manufacturer did this segment to demonstrate the feasibility of brick road paving.

About 10 miles south of Auburn, we had a terrific lunch at the 1957 Whirl-a-Whip in Girard, Illinois.

Whirl-a-Whip in Girard, Illinois

Check that cool old sign! This is a counter service restaurant, with outdoor seating, open seasonally. We ordered two regional specialties. My husband had a huge pork tenderloin sandwich.

Pork tenderloin sandwich at Whirl-a-Whip in Girard, Illinois

I got a horseshoe, which is a piece of bread topped with meat, fries, and a creamy cheese sauce.

Horseshoe at Whirl-a-Whip in Girard, Illinois

I chose pork tenderloin as my meat. To be honest, I didn’t order a horseshoe—this is a ponyshoe, a smaller version of a horseshoe. It was still huge.

Even with these huge lunches, we managed to share some ice cream for dessert (as my husband says, it seeps down between the cracks) before heading off again.

Just past the Whirl-a-Whip, turn right (west) on West Franklin, then left (south) on South 6^th Street. This becomes Cambridge Road, then 1950E Road. This stretch of Route 66 was built in 1919, so it’s older than Route 66. (And, yes, this is the stretch of Route 66 shown on the home page of this blog.)

1919 stretch of Route 66 between Girard and Nilwood

It was very cool to drive on a road over 100 years old! This photo with our vehicle shows how narrow the road is.

Another shot of the 1919 stretch of Route 66 between Girard and Nilwood, Illinois

To continue on this original stretch of Route 66: when 1950E road ends at 2800 N Road, turn right (west) on 2800 N Road. In about a half mile, it turns left (south) and becomes North Standard City Rad. In other half mile, turn right (west) on 2750 N Road. When you reach the town of Nilwood, 2750 N Road turns left (south) and becomes Pine Street. In a few hundred feet, turn right (west) on Morean Street, which returns you to IL 4.

About a mile past Nilwood is another old stretch of Route 66, this one from the 1920s. Turn left (east) on Carlinville Cutoff Road, then take an immediate right (south) on Donaldson Road. This old stretch has an extra treat. In about a quarter mile, there are turkey tracks in the concrete.

100-year-old turkey tracks south of Nilwood, Illinois

You won’t miss them—someone has thoughtfully put up a sign and marked the tracks with road paint and (now fading) Route 66 shields..

Turkey tracks sign

 

Continue on Donaldson Road until it ends at Allen Road. Turn right (west) on Allen Road to get back to IL 4.

About 8 miles south of the turkey tracks is the town of Carlinville, Illinois.

According to Jim Hinckley in his book Travel Route 66, in 1918 Standard Oil expanded its mining operations here and faced a housing shortage for its workers. The company solved the problem by buying and building 150 Sears mail-order homes in a section of Carlinville known as the Standard Addition. We thought this would be interesting to see, so we detoured off IL 4 and drove down Johnson Street, which was in the middle of the 12-block Standard addition. We thought it would look like an early version of Levittown (modest houses all originally the same model, but now altered over the years), but it ended up not being very interesting. There are a lot of older houses, but they’re all very different styles. We weren’t even sure which houses would have been Sears mail-order houses.

We rejoined IL 4 and drove through Carlinville’s historic district, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The center of town is a square featuring an adorable “rotunda.”

Carlinville rotunda (from EnjoyIllinois.com)

The square is surrounded by charming Victorian buildings.

Downtown Carlinville (from Carlinville.com)

Just past the square (which is really an oval), Route 66 turns left (east) on East 1^st South Street. In just a block on the left is the Macoupin County Courthouse.

Macoupin County Courthouse in Carlinville, Illinois (from MyJournalCourier.com)

It was built in 1870 at a cost of over $1 million—an extravagant sum that immediately led to an investigation into construction graft. This article tells more of the story. 

Across the street from the Courthouse is the Macoupin County Jail, built in 1869. .

Macoupin County Jail in Carlinville, Illinois (from MacoupinCountyIL.gov)

 This description of the jail explains how surplus Civil War cannonballs were used in its construction to prevent jailbreaks.

After Carlinville, we left the 1926 alignment of Route 66 and drove east to Litchfield, Illinois, to continue our trip on the 1930s alignment.