Tag: Illinois
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A brief history of the National Road in Illinois
It had been seven long years since I last drove the National Road in Illinois. I was curious to see it again, so I drove it a couple Saturdays ago. The National Road was our nation’s first federally funded highway, stretching from Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Illinois and passing through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and…
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Captured: Senate chambers
Abraham Lincoln began his political career where the old National Road ends, in Vandalia, in Illinois. He was elected to the state legislature in 1834, which was before the state capital moved north to Springfield. Actually, Lincoln was instrumental in getting the capital moved, which made him unpopular among Vandalians. This is the Senate chamber in…
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Building the Illinois National Road
Remember several years ago when I wrote about exploring the abandoned brick National Road across Illinois? Maybe you don’t; I made that trip in 2007 when this blog was new. The short story: In the 1950s sometime, Illinois built a new US 40 alongside an older road paved in brick and concrete, which it abandoned.…
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The giants of Route 66
If ever you drive Route 66, be sure to stop to see the many giant things placed along the way. It’s American kitsch at its finest. Our very first stop on our Route 66 trip was to see the Gemini Giant in Wilmington, Illinois. It stands watch over the road next to the Launching Pad…
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Restored Standard service station on Route 66
We were in the first hours of our Route 66 trip’s first day when we reached Odell, a small northern-Illinois town, and its wonderful Standard service station. You know how it is early on a road trip. The excitement is fresh, your eyes are wide open, and you want to stop and look at everything.…
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Old Route 66 pavement
The point of our Route 66 trip was to take in America at ground level – to experience the countryside’s changing terrain as we moved west, to enjoy the small towns that dot the route, and to take in any tourist traps that interested us. But me being me, I also wanted to see some old-road…
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A Route 66 spring break
My sons and I are just back from our biennial spring break trip, and this time we drove old Route 66 across Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma. I was a teenager when the last of Route 66 was decommissioned – that is, no longer considered part of the national highway system. At about the same time, Hot Rod magazine…
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Road trip season is almost here
I like to fill my spare spring and summer Saturdays taking road trips. And I don’t mean “let’s drive to Chicago for the weekend” – I mean exploring the old two-lane highways, just taking in the countryside and enjoying the small towns along the way. The journey is the destination! Also, as these old roads were straightened,…
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What if they built a bridge and nobody ever drove on it?
Here’s a weird one – a bridge along US 50 in southwestern Illinois that has an unused twin! Here it is, up close and personal. There are actually four such bridges along this 21-mile stretch of US 50 between Carlyle and Lebanon. The State of Illinois built them in about 1973 anticipating a four-lane divided…
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The General Dean Bridge
A suspension bridge in the middle of Illinois? Yup.