Preservation Efforts
What is Preservation?
Submitted by The Admin on January 20, 2007 - 7:45pm.Preservation takes many forms. The size, scope and historical significance is virtually unlimited.
Essentially, preservation is the link that joins the past to the present for the future. Preservation should always emit a sense of time and place.
A Preservation Win For Route 66
Submitted by The Admin on March 28, 2008 - 10:34am.Dorothy McMullen, John & Lenore Weiss are proud to report a success story. The following news items was written by Tim Landis and appeared in The Springfield State Journal Register on 3-15-08. It appears here with their permission.
Section of Old Route 66 in Springfield May Get Historic Designation
A section of Old Route 66 at the southeast edge of Springfield has been recommended for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. A decision on the nomination is expected in about three months.
Preservation Journal - Art's Motel Sign Restored
Submitted by The Admin on June 30, 2007 - 12:55pm.Friday May 11th - Sunday May 13th 2007
Story Submitted by Joe Gniadek - Publicity / Public Relations Committee
Route 66 Association of Illinois
Art's Motel in Farmersville, Illinois experienced a bit of a renaissance as Route 66 Association of Illinois preservation volunteers brought back to life the Art's Motel advertising sign.
Standard Oil Station
Submitted by The Admin on December 18, 2006 - 8:13pm.Location(s)
National Register of Historic Places - Nov 9, 1997
In 1932 Patrick O'Donnell, a contractor, purchased a small 200' by 60' parcel of land on the southwest side of Odell in Livingston County, Illinois. This land was on that great "MOTHER ROAD", Route 66. His plan was to build a gas station which he would lease to his son. And build it he did, using an old 1916 Standard Oil of Ohio design.
This style of gas station is known today as a house with a canopy with added bays. When you tour the station, you will discover the evidence that proves the bays were added at a later date. Look closely at the south interior wall of the bay area.
Route 66 Unearthed
Submitted by The Admin on July 7, 2004 - 8:28pm.On May 13, 2006 30 members of the Route 66 Association of Illinois Preservation Committee met in Odell, IL directly across the street from St. Paul Catholic Church to unearth a piece of Route 66 history!
If you drove through Odell on Old 66 you must have noticed the sign across from St. Paul Catholic Church that tells the tale of time gone by when the Mother Road was so heavily filled with traffic that it was unsafe for children to cross the street to attend school or for the people of the parish to cross the street to attend mass. The towns answer to the problem was to build a pedestrian tunnel under Route 66 which they called the "subway".
Soulsby Station Restoration Journal
Submitted by The Admin on March 30, 2004 - 1:06am.The restoration of the Soulsby Station in Mount Olive IL is just one of the many preservation projects of the Route 66 Association of Illinois. The Soulsby Station Society, cofounded by our own Tom Teague, was instrumental in restoring this historic site. Here are his journal entries chronicling this process.
March 30, 2004
