Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 116,250 at the 2010 U.S. Census, which makes it the state's sixth most-populous city, the second largest outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the largest in central Illinois. As of 2019, the city's population was estimated to have decreased to 114,230, with just over 211,700 residents living in the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Sangamon County and the adjacent Menard County.
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before terminating in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both the 1946 hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and the Route 66 television series, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It was also featured in the Disney/Pixar feature film franchise Cars. In John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), the highway symbolizes escape, loss, and the hope of a new beginning; Steinbeck dubbed it the Mother Road. Other designations and nicknames for the highway include the Will Rogers Highway and the Main Street of America.
Sangamon County is located in the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 197,465. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, the state capital.
Seligman is a census-designated place (CDP) on the northern border of Yavapai County, in northwestern Arizona, United States. The population was 456 at the 2000 census.
Chatham is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. It is located 2.8 miles south of Springfield and has a retail trade area that extends into four other municipalities, including Springfield. The population was 11,500 as of the 2010 census and estimated to be 13,008 as of 2019. The village lies along the original alignment of historic U.S. Route 66.
Blairsville is a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, 42 miles (68 km) east of Pittsburgh, and on the Conemaugh River. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 3,252.
Illinois Route 4 is a long state road that runs south from the Interstate 55 business loop around the state capital of Springfield, south to Illinois Route 13 just north of Murphysboro. This is a distance of 170.44 miles (274.30 km).
Maid-Rite is an American casual dining franchise restaurant chain. Before it became a restaurant chain, it was a single restaurant, opened in 1926 by Fred Angell. By the end of the 1920s, four franchises were granted; these four restaurants are still in operation.
A tavern sandwich is a sandwich consisting of ground beef on a bun, mixed with sauteed onions, and sometimes topped with pickles, ketchup, mustard, and cheese.
U.S. Route 66 is a former east–west United States Numbered Highway, running from Santa Monica, California to Chicago, Illinois. In Missouri, the highway ran from downtown St. Louis at the Mississippi River to the Kansas state line west of Joplin. The highway was originally Route 14 from St. Louis to Joplin and Route 1F from Joplin to Kansas. It underwent two major realignments and several lesser realignments in the cities of St. Louis, Springfield, and Joplin. Current highways covering several miles of the former highway include Route 100, Route 366, Route 266, Route 96, and Route 66. Interstate 44 (I-44) approximates much of US 66 between St. Louis and Springfield.
U.S. Route 66 was a United States Numbered Highway in Illinois that connected St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois. The historic Route 66, the Mother Road or Main Street of America, took long distance automobile travelers from Chicago to Southern California. The highway had previously been Illinois Route 4 (IL 4) and the road has now been largely replaced with Interstate 55 (I-55). Parts of the road still carry traffic and six separate portions of the roadbed have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Robert Waldmire was an American artist and cartographer who is well known for his artwork of U.S. Route 66, including whimsical maps of the Mother Road and its human and natural ecology. Being the son of Ed Waldmire Jr., he is often associated with the Cozy Dog Drive In restaurant in Springfield, Illinois, the elder Waldmire having created the Cozy Dog.
There have been 22 special routes of U.S. Route 66.
Ambler's Texaco Gas Station, also known as Becker's Marathon Gas Station, is a historic filling station located at the intersection of Old U.S. Route 66 and Illinois Route 17 in the village of Dwight, Illinois, United States. The station has been identified as the longest operating gas station along Route 66; it dispensed fuel for 66 continuous years until 1999. The station is a good example of a domestic style gas station and derives its most common names from ownership stints by two different men. North of the station is an extant outbuilding that once operated as a commercial icehouse. Ambler's was the subject of major restoration work from 2005–2007, and reopened as a Route 66 visitor's center in May 2007. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The Pierre Menard House, located in Ellis Grove, Illinois, U.S.A., was the home of Pierre Menard, a trader who became the first lieutenant governor of Illinois from 1818 to 1822.
Canteen Lunch in the Alley is a restaurant located in Ottumwa, Iowa. The original five-stool Canteen Lunch was opened in 1927 in a different location, and moved to its current address in 1936. It has since been a local institution known for their loose-meat sandwiches and homemade pies. The restaurant's design is a horseshoe-shaped counter-top surrounded by 16 stools. The “Canteen Lunch” was originally established in 1927. In 1936, the business relocated to its present location under the second street parking ramp in Ottumwa, Iowa. It remains an outstanding example of an early to mid-20th century lunchroom. The “Canteen Lunch” reflects on this type of eating establishment that gained popularity in the 1920s and 1930s as social and economic challenges were felt by the Great Depression.
Sprague's Super Service is a historic independent gas station on Route 66 in Normal, Illinois.
