Nov. 30th, 2017

Towanda 66

Nov. 30th, 2017 07:09 pm
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For those not familiar... Route 66 was one of the earliest roads in the US National Highway System; founded in the mid-1920's, it covered half the country, connecting Chicago with Los Angeles through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before the final crossover into California. It was one of the old two-lane highways that ran through small towns instead of bypassing them, so it started falling out of use when the Interstates came into service and offered faster travel. Route 66 was officially disbanded in 1985.

There's still a community out there that retains historical interest in Route 66, though; and some of the small towns that lost business as Route 66 withered* wanted to try and retain/regain some of that traffic. So here and there, you'll run across small roadside attractions celebrating the historic route. This one is in Towanda, IL; my sister lives just southwest in Bloomington-Normal, and I ran across it while visiting her for Thanksgiving.

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*Yes, this theme in the Pixar movie Cars is true-to-life. When I was growing up in the 70s, my father was a technical sales rep for the West/Midwest, and we used to drive all around the Illinois/Colorado/Utah/Wyoming area; I remember a lot of little two-lane roads and the small towns spaced along them.

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Travis Butler

May 2025

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