Route 66 Unearthed

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".

Once Route 66 was decommissioned, the town of Odell, like all others, lost the traffic and travelers to I-55. The one time "subway" was cemented closed and the stairwell was filled with dirt.

The committee met with the intent to unearth the first three stairs and with perseverance and the help of a back hoe they also revealed the top of the doorway that has been cemented shut.