Standard Oil Gas Station, Odell, Illinois on Route 66.

In 1868, John D. Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was the beginning of the Standard Oil Trust Company, which would soon dominate oil refineries and gas stations around America. 

In 1890, the Standard Oil Company set up its first company in Illinois.

In 1932, a contractor, Patrick O'Donnell, purchased a small parcel of land along Route 66 in Odell, Illinois. There he built a gas station based on a 1916 Standard Oil of Ohio design, commonly known as a domestic-style gas station. 

This "house with canopy" style of the gas station gave customers a comfortable feeling they could associate with home. This association created an atmosphere of trust for commercial and recreational travelers of the day.

The station originally sold Standard Oil products, but after O'Donnell leased the property to others, the station began selling Sinclair and the now famous Phillips 66. 

In the late 1940s, O'Donnell added a two-bay garage to accommodate repair services, which was necessary to stay competitive with the nine other stations that occupied the short stretch of Route 66 through Odell. The gas station was in constant use during the heyday of travel on Route 66. It was a welcomed rest stop for weary travelers and a place for the kids to get out and stretch their legs.

The station sold gasoline until the 1960s and then became an auto body shop until the late 1970s when it closed its doors for good. It fell into disrepair and would have been destroyed had it not been for the town of Odell and the people who loved their gas station. In 1997, the station was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Then, thanks to a collaborative effort, the Illinois Route 66 Association, the Village of Odell, the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, and Hampton Inn Landmarks restored the station to its former glory. A Standard Oil sign hanging from the roof swings gently in the warm breeze, and an old-fashioned gas pump looks ready to serve the next customer. Although Odell's Standard Oil Gas Station no longer sells gasoline, it has become a welcome center for the Village of Odell. 

The station won the National Historic Route 66 Federation Cyrus Avery Award in 2002 for the year's most outstanding Route 66 preservation project.  

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Ambler Texaco Gas Station, on Route 66 in Dwight, Illinois.

Ambler Texaco Gas Station, also known as Vernon’s Texaco Station and Becker’s Marathon Gas Station, is located along historic Route 66 in the Village of Dwight. The station gets its name from longtime manager Basil “Tubby” Ambler, who operated the station from 1938 to 1966. 

The original 1933 building Jack Shore built consisted of an office with wood clapboard siding, an arched roof with asphalt shingles, and residential windows adorned with shutters and flower boxes. A sheltering canopy supported by two tapered columns was extending out from the office over three Texaco gas pumps.  Mr. Shore also constructed an ice house located on the property. 

The station’s design, with its cottage look, may strike the contemporary traveler as quaint--or perhaps even odd. Why, after all, shouldn’t a gas station look like a gas station? But this domestic style, common along Route 66, had a distinct purpose and stems from a time in the early 20th century when gas stations were just beginning to seriously intrude upon the suburban landscape of America. The oil companies wisely opted to tread lightly on this new, non-commercial territory. Gas stations were consciously styled to be homey and inviting to customers, as well as inconspicuous in their new residential, suburban surroundings.

In the early 1940s, following a national trend that saw gas stations evolve into full-service garages, Mr. Ambler added a service bay of simple concrete block to the north side of the original building. Although he left the station in 1966, the station continued servicing motorists until nearly the turn of the 21st century, making it one of the oldest continually operated service stations along the Mother Road.

Over the years, the station naturally underwent a number of changes. Windows were removed and added, fresh paint applied, and new roofing laid down. The tall, elegant red pumps of the 1930s gave way to the squat dispensers of the 1960s; and Marathon Oil eventually superseded the Texaco Fire Chief brand. 

The station operated as a gas station for 66 years until 1999 and was an auto repair shop until 2002, when the owner Phillip Becker generously donated the station to the Village of Dwight. With the help of a $10,400 matching grant from the National Park Service’s Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, the Village of Dwight painstakingly restored the station to its former glory, taking the main office and canopy area back to the 1930s and the service bay area back to its 1940s appearance. 

Today, the station serves as a visitor’s center for the Village of Dwight. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 and received a Cost-Share Grant from the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program in 2002.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. — BOD, Route 66 Association of Illinois, 2013-2015

Historic Illinois Route 66 Map.

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CLICK FOR A FULL-SIZE MAP

The Negro Travelers' Green Book - Chicago Section, 1954.

The History of the Green Book written by Author Victor H. Green.
The Green Book, first published in 1936 under the title "The Negro Motorist Green Book," was a product of the rising African-American middle class having the finances and vehicle for travel but facing a world where social and legal restrictions barred them from many accommodations. At the time, there were thousands of "sundown towns," African-Americans were legally barred from spending the night there at all.

The book provides a guide to hotels and restaurants that would accept their business, often ones established specifically for the black customer. Published annually by Victor Hugo Green (1892-1960), a New Yorker who retired from his work as a mailman based on its success and expanded into the travel reservation business, the Green Book was for decades a vital handbook, fading out of business only after the civil rights laws of the 1960s brought about the end of legal segregation. It was sold largely through mail order and through service stations — specifically, through Esso [gasoline] stations, as Esso not only served African-American customers, they were willing to franchise their stations to African-Americans, unlike most petroleum companies of the day. The guide was also offered by AAA and distributed elsewhere with the advice from the United States Travel Bureau, a government agency. The last published issue was in 1967.

Chicago's Green Book Eras
In cities like Chicago, it would have been near mandatory to carry the Green Book on your person even for celebrities and affluent African-Americans, who were barred from downtown hotels and accommodations all over the city and suburbs based solely on their skin color.

Those traveling any great distance, for business or leisure, faced additional indignities and dangers — or, as Victor H. Green politely said, “difficulties and embarrassments” — that ranged from the commonplace refusal of service at hotels and restaurants to the hazards of sundown towns, where negroes risked harassment, arrest, assault, and even lynchings if they dared to be caught within that city's limits after dark.

At the start of Route 66 in Chicago, the Green Book would have pointed travelers to the listings located in the South Side’s black community called "Bronzeville," which was built by the thousands upon thousands of blacks who flooded the Chicago area as part of the Great Migration (1916-1970).

Confined to a narrow stretch of land by restrictive real estate covenants and redlining and prevented from patronizing whites-only establishments, African-Americans in Chicago responded by creating businesses by themselves, for themselves.

“This community had its own agency. It’s strong testimony that we are business leaders in our own right,” said Sherry Williams, founder of the Bronzeville Historical Society. “It just shows the enterprise that was going on in the neighborhood.”

The Southway Hotel, 6012 South Parkway, Chicago.

Count Basie played the Parkway Ballroom, Duke Ellington stayed at the Southway Hotel and Joe Louis celebrated his heavyweight championship at the Palm Tavern — all Green Book sites.

The Palm Tavern at 466 East 47th Street in Chicago's Bronzeville Community.

“My grandmother used to tell me about the nights she would hang out at the Parkway Ballroom and who was there and how it felt. It was all about elegance and white gloves and top hats and tuxedos,” said Cliff  Rome. “If the streets were talking, could you imagine what they would tell you?”

The Parkway Ballroom at 420 East 45th Street, Chicago.

In its own account of its history, the Drake Hotel says: “Throughout the 1950s and 60s the political and social climate of Chicago was evolving and The Drake was inclined to develop alongside the city.”

1954 CHICAGO LISTINGS

HOTELS
Albion Hotel, 4009 Lake Park Avenue
Don Hotel, 3337 South Michigan Avenue
Du Sable, 764 East Oakwood Boulevard
Eberhart Hotel, 6050 Eberhart Avenue
Evans Hotel, 733 East 61st Street
Garfield, 231 East Garfield Boulevard
Grand Hotel, 5044 South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968] (pictured below)

Harlem Hotel, 5020 South Michigan Avenue
Hotel Como, 5204-6  South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]
Loretta, 6201 South Vernon Avenue
Manor House Hotel, 4635 South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968] (pictured below)

Monarch Hotel, 4530 Prairie Avenue
Pershing Hotel, 6400 Cottage Grove Avenue (pictured below)

Prairie Hotel, 2836 Prairie Avenue 
Ritz Hotel, 409 East Oakwood Boulevard
S & S, 4142 South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]
South Central, 520 East 47th Street
Southerland, 47th Street & Drexel Boulevard
Southway Hotel, 6012 South Park  Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]
Spencer Hotel, 300 East Garfield Boulevard
Strand, 63rd Street & Cottage Grove Avenue
Vienna, 3921 South Indiana Avenue
Wedgewood Towers, Woodlawn Avenue at 64th Street (pictured below)

Y.M.C.A., 3763 South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]
Y.M.C.A., 4559 South Park Way [ Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]

TOURIST HOMES (BED & BREAKFAST)
Day's, 3616 South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]
Poro College, 4415 South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]

RESTAURANTS
A & J, 105 East 51st Street
Morris' 410 E. 47th Street
Parkway Ballroom, 420 East 45th Street
Pioneer, 533 East 43rd Street
Pitts, 812 East 39th Street
Wrights, 3753 South Wabash Avenue

BEAUTY PARLORS
Matties', 4214 South Cottage Grove Avenue

BARBER SHOPS
Bank's, 209 East 39th Street

TAVERNS
El Casino, 823 East 39th Street
Key Hole, 3965 South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]
The Palm, 466 East 47th Street

NIGHTCLUBS
820 Club, 820 East 39th Street
Delux, 6323 South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]
Show Boat, 6109 South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]

SERVICE STATIONS
Parkway, 340 West Grand Avenue
Standard, Garfield Boulevard & South Park Way [Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Jr. in 1968]

GARAGES
Zephyr, 4535 South Cottage Grove Avenue

AUTOMOTIVE
Charles Baron, 3840 South Michigan Avenue

DRUG STORES
Thompson, 545 East 47th Street

TAILORS
Perkin, 419 South State Street

LIQUOR STORES
Sam's, 2255 West Madison Street.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Ambler Texaco Gasoline Station on Route 66 in Dwight, Illinois.

Ambler’s Texaco Gasoline Station, also known as Vernon’s Texaco Station and Becker’s Marathon Gas Station, is located along historic Illinois Route 66 in the Village of Dwight. The station gets its name from longtime manager Basil “Tubby” Ambler, who operated it from 1938 to 1966. 

The original 1933 building Jack Shore built consisted of an office with wood clapboard siding, an arched roof with asphalt shingles, and residential windows adorned with shutters and flower boxes. Extending out from the office over three Texaco gas pumps was a sheltering canopy supported by two tapered columns. Mr. Shore also constructed an ice house located on the property. 

The station’s design, with its cottage look, may strike the contemporary traveler as quaint--or perhaps even odd. Why, after all, shouldn’t a gas station look like a gas station? But this domestic style, common along Route 66, had a distinct purpose and stems from a time in the early 20th century when gas stations were just beginning to seriously intrude upon the suburban landscape of America. The oil companies wisely opted to tread lightly on this new, non-commercial territory.

Gas stations were consciously styled to be homey and inviting to customers, as well as inconspicuous in their new residential, suburban surroundings. In the early 1940s, following a national trend that saw gas stations evolve to full service garages, Mr. Ambler added a service bay of simple concrete block to the north side of the original building. Although he left the station in 1966, the station continued servicing motorists until nearly the turn of the 21st century, making it one of the oldest continually operated service stations along the Mother Road.

Over the years, the station naturally underwent a number of changes. Windows were removed and added, fresh paint applied, and new roofing laid down. The tall, elegant red pumps of the 1930s gave way to the squat dispensers of the 1960s; and Marathon Oil eventually superseded the Texaco Fire Chief brand. The station operated as a gas station for 66 years until 1999 and was an auto repair shop until 2002, when the owner Phillip Becker generously donated the station to the Village of Dwight.

With the help of a $10,400 matching grant from the National Park Service’s Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, the Village of Dwight painstakingly restored the station to its former glory, taking the main office and canopy area back to the 1930s and the service bay area back to its 1940s appearance. Today, the station serves as a visitor’s center for the Village of Dwight. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 and received a Cost-Share Grant from the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program in 2002.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. — BOD, Route 66 Association of Illinois, 2013-2015

Motorcar travel through Illinois: On the old Pontiac Trail, the precursor to Route 66.

In the first decades of the 20th century, most people who traveled long distances, such as from Chicago to Joliet, Bloomington, Springfield, or St. Louis, did so via the railroads. Travel by water was also possible but mainly used for shipping cargo rather than passengers' use. Roads were mainly used for local trips within municipalities or rural areas from farms to the nearest rail depot or commercial harbor.

The main thoroughfare in Illinois was an unpaved road between Chicago and St. Louis. Following a northeast-southwest direction. The Pontiac Trail was born out of the "Mississippi Valley Highway," marked from Chicago to Springfield and the "Lone Star Route," which started in Springfield and led to St. Louis.

       

The "East St. Louis-Springfield-Chicago Trail" and the "Burlington Way," both roads intersected at Edwardsville, Illinois, were also incorporated into the Pontiac Trail.  

This trail had been officially christened and opened to travel as the "Pontiac Trail" in 1914. The nameplates (signs) marking the course of the Pontiac Trail, the connecting highway between Chicago and St. Louis, were placed in position on the guideposts, which were erected at intervals of a mile along this highway by the Goodrich Tire Co., showing the mileage to Chicago and St. Louis, and the nearest local towns.

In addition to the name "Pontiac Trail," these nameplates bear the full-length figure of an Indian upholding a map of the State of Illinois. 

The significance will be grasped at once, for this trail inevitably became Illinois Route 4, the great thoroughfare of the State, connecting as it does, its largest city with the metropolis of its western border and passing through its capital as well as many other prosperous cities and villages, and the heart of the corn belt.

The appropriateness of the Indian figure to the name is likewise at once apparent. For this great highway, the name is doubly significant, for the famous chief whose name it bears, in the later years of his life, often crossed its course, since near its southern terminus, he spent his last years and met his death, and his name was commemorated by the christening of one of the prettiest, and most prosperous and energetic of the many towns, through which the trail will pass.

These nameplates were paid for and put up at the expense of the businessmen of the city of Pontiac, who are appreciative of the compliment paid to their city by the naming of the trail and who is also appreciative of the benefit their town will derive from being on the line of this splendid highway.

The naming of the trail after Pontiac, the great Indian, who was able by his genius and the power of his personality, its midst and almost encircling the grounds of its famous Chautauqua, probably second in importance only to the parent institution in New York. Pontiac is primarily a city of homes and has infinite attractions as a residence town. However, it also is celebrated for its shoes and is the site of the Illinois State Reformatory.

From Pontiac, the trail pursues its way through the world's garden to Chenoa, just across the line in McLean County, where it intersects another newly named and established road, "The Corn Belt Route," from Logansport, Indiana, to Peoria.

Beyond Chenoa, the trail passes between beautiful waving fields of oats and corn, through the prosperous agricultural towns of Lexington and Towanda, to Normal and Bloomington, contiguous cities, the former the seat of two State institutions, the Illinois Soldiers' Orphans' Home and the Illinois State Normal University, the latter especially, with its wide and beautifully shaded campus, is well worth visiting.

Bloomington is the queen of the corn belt. Devastated by a great fire on June 12, 1900, which burned over 10 acres of its business district, including the courthouse, with a loss of more than $2,000,000, the city has come to regard the fire as its greatest blessing, and today, its business district is devoid of those ramshackle, prehistoric structures which disfigure most cities, and Bloomington has no competition in the matter of looks among cities even twice its size.

At Bloomington are located the great car shops of the Alton Railroad, and here also is the Illinois Wesleyan University, a Methodist school of importance. Bloomington, with the adjoining town of Normal, also boasts many beautiful residences, miles of perfect pavement and some beautiful parks, and is well worthy of a special visit and a day or two's stopover by the motoring tourist.

Leaving Bloomington, the trail still continues through the heart of the corn belt, and a short distance south passes through the famous Funk farms near Funk's Grove, with their thousands of acres of perfectly tilled land and model farm buildings and farm methods. Pioneers in progressive farming, the Funk family were also early and firm believers in good roads, and they did all the road work in their township at actual cost, making use of their farm tractors for the purpose.

Standard Oil Gas Station, Odell, Illinois, on Route 66.

Still southwestward, the trail takes its way through McLean and Atlanta and Lawndale to Lincoln, the county seat of Logan County and an important railroad center having important mining interests. Lincoln also has the State School and Colony, an institution for the feeble-minded, and the Illinois State Odd Fellow' Orphans' Home, a Presbyterian College, and it also has a Chautauqua, situated near the trail and about two miles southwest of the city.

After Lincoln, the next large town on the trail is Springfield, the State capital, whose historic associations with the personality of Lincoln are too well known to need enlargement. His homestead and his grave are here, and the streets he walked in life came at one time or another every conspicuous figure in the public life of Illinois. Here are the State House and many other public buildings, and here is located the State Fair, past whose grounds the trail enters Springfield, also passing the huge plant of the Illinois Watch Co.

At Springfield, the trail was crossed by the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway, and here another interchange of travel was thought to eventually be developed.

sidebar

PP-OO began early in 1912 the route went from New York City to Los Angeles. PP-OO has fallen into obscurity, virtually unknown even to residents of the cities and towns along the old route.

From Springfield, still, in the main following the Alton Railroad, the trail leads to the historic old town of Carlinville, the capital of Macoupin County, named after a former governor. From Springfield, south, fields of corn and oats have largely given place to wheat, and the towers of coal mines frequently break the horizon, for here the trail passes through an important coal-producing region, and here it has reached the ancient hunting grounds of the chief whose name it bears.

From Carlinville, the road bears nearly due south, and at the important mining and manufacturing town of Collinsville, turns nearly west into East St. Louis and across the Mississippi to its destination.

The shortest route for motor travel between Chicago and St. Louis, with so many large and important towns on its course and intersecting, as it does, so many important east and west thoroughfares, its rapid development as a highway is easily forecasted. It was a well-cared-for highway, and following, as it does, State aid roads every inch of its length, its permanent improvement was rapid. The trail followed stone roads the entire distance from Chicago to Morris, a distance of about 60 miles, and at Morris, there are about 2 ½ miles of concrete road. South of Pontiac, there are 5 miles of asphalt, stone and concrete road and about 4 miles of concrete and crushed stone through Funk's Grove. At Lincoln, there are 2 ½ miles of concrete road, and at Springfield 3 or 4 miles of the same.

It was planned to form the Pontiac Trail Association, with a vice president in each township and an officer in each county through which the trail passes, for the purpose of improving the dirt roads along the route and hastening the coming of a permanent highway.

The Goodrich Tire Co., in addition to erecting the guideposts, prepared a road log of the route, copies of which can be obtained from the garages at the towns along the road and from the superintendents of highways of the counties through which it passes.

Visit Our Illinois Pontiac Trail Souvenir Shop.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Daniel Dove Collins House in Collinsville, Illinois on Route 66 (built 1845).

The Collins House, now located at 703 West Main Street (both the Historic National Road {aka Cumberland Road} and Route 66 travel down Main Street), was the home to Daniel Dove Collins, the first President of the City of Collinsville. 

Built by D.D. Collins in 1845, the house is in Greek Revival style, a popular style between 1820 and 1850. The home was originally located at Main and Center Streets and moved to its second location a distance of six blocks to 621 West Main Street in the 1880s or early 1890s.

The house appears to be of post and beam construction. The porch spans the front of the house and has six Doric columns supporting the porch roof. The house has five openings on its front, 4 windows and a center entry door, each symmetrically between the columns. It's sided with a clapboard which is thought to be original. This home is one of the oldest in Collinsville and the only example of this architectural style in the area.

As the story goes, the main floor joist for the first floor may have been salvaged from a steamboat stranded on one of the Cahokia Mounds during the flood of 1844.

The original owner and builder of the house, Daniel Dove Collins, was a cousin of the Collins brothers who had founded the town. He came to Collinsville from Bangor, Maine, via Chicago. He served as the first village board president. He also served as an Associate Judge in Madison County and, for the rest of his life, was referred to as "Judge." He also served as the President of the Collinsville School Board and later as County Highway Commissioner. 

In 1998, the late Irving Dilliard purchased the D.D. Collins House, and donated it to the City of Collinsville. Mr. Dilliard's grandparents lived in the house at once, and he was interested in preserving the house. The City's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) was tasked with restoring the Collins House. The HPC serves as the City's mechanism to identify and preserve distinctive architectural characteristics that represent the City's cultural, social, economic, political and architectural history.

Additionally, numerous individuals have generously contributed to the project. With Federal, State and local grants and private donations, the HPC has completed internal demolition, hazardous material abatement, required structural repairs, roof replacement, siding repair and replacement, exterior painting, and has opened original fireplaces. Exterior work has also included new guttering and door, window and shutter replacement.

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 2002.

At the September 12, 2011, City Council meeting, the Council approved the expenditure of TIF funds for $150,000 to complete Phases I, II, and III of the renovations to the Collins House. With $58,000 remaining from a grant, these funds will be used to upgrade the HVAC system, install security and fire alarm systems, upgrade plumbing, remove and replace plaster walls and ceilings, paint the interior, and repair and refinish flooring. Additionally, the original fireplaces will be renovated, millwork completed, and an ADA-accessible restroom and ramp will be installed.

Plans also include the creation of an educational garden area. This will be the first historic home attraction for the City, and plans are to furnish it to the period of 1840-1860 and eventually have it open for public visitation and educational programs.

The Collins House was moved about 200 feet to the corner of Main and Combs Streets, now at 701 West Main Street.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COLLINS HOUSE AND ITS OWNERS

In 1837, the first plat of the Town of Collinsville was executed and recorded by Elizabeth W. Collins (the widow of Willam B. Collins), Joseph Darrow, and Horace Look, all of the property owners.

On October 2, 1845, Elizabeth W. Collins, as guardian of the children/heirs of William B. Collins, sold and conveyed Lot 6, Block 1 of the Town of Collinsville, to Daniel D. Collins. This property was located on the northeast corner of Main Street and Center Street, 66 feet on Main Street and 148½ feet along Center Street, bordered on the rear by Wood Alley.

Upon this property, Daniel D. Collins built a house for himself and his new wife, Elizabeth Anderson Collins. The house was built on the rear portion of the property.

On March 17, 1849, Daniel D. Collins and his wife conveyed the property to Lewis Lancaster.

On April 1, 1856, Lewis Lancaster and his wife conveyed the property to Joseph Lemen Jr.

On July 22, 1856, Joseph Lemen Jr. and his wife conveyed the property to Andrew Edwards. In this transaction, he apparently financed this purchase by giving a mortgage to the seller, Joseph Lemen.

In October 1858, the property was purchased by the Chancery Court.

On May 8, 1860, the interest of Andrew Edwards and his wife was conveyed by a Master's Deed back to Joseph Lemen.

On December 2, 1861, Joseph Lemen and his wife conveyed the property to Oliver C. Look. During this time, Look may have built the building on the east 22 feet of Lot 6. An old photo exists of “D. W. Jones Candy and Confectionery Store” with the house on the west and set back from Main Street towards the rear of the building (as seen in the old photograph). Oliver lived on the property from 1861 to 1885.

On April 22, 1887, Oliver C. Look and his wife conveyed the property to James I. Dilliard (his son-in-law, married to their daughter Mary Look; Mary lived in the house as a child. James and Mary were the parents of Irving Dilliard, who purchased the house in 1998 and donated it to the City).

On April 29, 1887, James I. Dilliard conveyed the east 1/3 of Lot 6 Block One to David W. Jones.

On April 23, 1887, James I. Dilliard conveyed the west 2/3 of Lot 6 Block One to Charles Gindler.

On March 30, 1892, Charles Gindler conveyed to the State Bank of Collinsville the west 2/3 of Lot 6 Block One.

At that time, the west 2/3 of Lot 6 was vacant, except for the house, which had been constructed by Daniel D. Collins in 1845.

The Bank desired to build a larger commercial building to house the Bank on the first floor and other businesses on the second floor. This was when the house was moved seven blocks west to the 621 West Main Street location.

William and Agnes Bonn purchased the house about 1915, and the widow Agnes passed away in 1996, and in 1998 the house was to go to auction. Still, just before that happened, Irving Dilliard purchased the home and donated it to the City of Collinsville. It is the oldest surviving house in the City.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The History of District 6 Illinois State Police Headquarters in Pontiac, Livingston County, Illinois on Route 66. (1942-2003)

The 6th District of the Illinois State Police was originally established as District 9 and it was one of initially five police districts established when the State Police were officially founded in April 1922. Its original base of operations was in Kankakee, as was the headquarters for the entire State Police agency. The district covered Cook, Will, Iroquois, and Vermilion Counties upon its inception.

In 1935 the district renamed as District 6, and its coverage area was altered to just include the counties of Kankakee, Ford, Iroquois, McLean and Livingston. It was at this time that the headquarters was moved into a rented building along U.S Route 66 near Pontiac.

Built in 1941, the District 6 Illinois State Police office is an example of sleek Art Moderne architecture that reflects the streamlined design of automobiles of the era.

Exterior View of the Illinois State Police Headquarters in 1942.

The building has curved corners, smooth surfaces, and structural glass bricks, all elements typical of Art Moderne design. Facing an abandoned two-lane section of old Route 66, the office is modest. It’s practical. It’s tan. Motorists could easily drive right past it without realizing its considerable significance, but slow down two miles south of Pontiac and take a look at the building.

In the decades before airbags, before seat belts and “click it or ticket” campaigns, brown-suited State troopers with visors patrolled Illinois highways, especially the heavily travelled corridor of Route 66. The Illinois State Police were first organized in 1922 after the election of Governor Len Small, who ran on the slogan “take Illinois out of the mud.”

That year, eight troopers began patrolling the 1,100 miles of paved roads in Illinois. They used surplus World War I uniforms (pieces included a snug cap, long-sleeved shirt, vest, jodhpurs, and boots to the knee) and motorcycles, and they did not wear helmets. The State Police headquarters was a desk in the chief’s house in Kankakee, Illinois. The patrol’s early emphasis was on truck regulation--overloaded trucks damaged highway pavement--and speeding was a secondary concern.

By 1923, 20 officers were on patrol, covering 109,705 miles of road. Doing the math, that comes to 5,485 miles of road per officer per day. Little wonder, then, that the force grew rapidly. In 1924, 100 officers were on patrol at salaries of $150 per month.  Four years later, Illinois State Police employed a chief, 12 sergeants, 140 officers, and six mechanics. That was the year that troopers got their first patrol cars--1927 Chrysler Coupes issued only to sergeants.  With bug-eyed headlights, wheels with spokes, wide running boards, and an extra tire mounted on the back, the Chryslers were chunky, squarish cars, much like early Fords. Ads from the era boasted that the 1927 Chrysler would reach 60 “mean miles per hour.”

By the mid 1930s, troopers were using radios, and the Illinois State Police staff totaled 350. About this time, Illinois began building police headquarters in various districts across the State.

Illinois State Police - Mobile Emergency Unit, 1942.

By 1942, the Pontiac station was in operation, with one wing for administration and a second wing for garages. The utilitarian, sleek interior was finished out with terrazzo floors, plaster walls, and built-in cupboards.

Traffic along Route 66 continued to increase throughout the 1940s, and the headquarters was busy round the clock. In 1944, the route was widened to four lanes through this region of Illinois, and two additional highway lanes were constructed directly in front of the building. Speed limits were imposed during the 1950s.

By then the officers drove distinctively marked black and white cars with crackling radios and flashing blue lights. Their work had a clear focus - reducing the rapidly rising death toll from highway accidents. The construction of Interstate 55, about a half mile to the west of Route 66 during the 1970s, led to a decrease in traffic on Route 66.

The Illinois State Police remained headquartered in the building until 2003 when the police moved to a new facility in Pontiac.

The historic headquarters is vacant today, but remains an important local landmark. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Livingston County has plans to develop the site for public use as a park. At its center will be the building that housed for nearly seven decades the officers who maintained a constant and critical presence on this section of Route 66.

Illinois State Police, 1955

Illinois State Police, 1957

Illinois State Police, 1959

Illinois State Police, 1963

Illinois State Police, Circa. 1975

Illinois State Police, 1980

Illinois State Police, 2003

By National Park Service
Edited by Neil Gale, Ph.D.