Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center wins $30,000 grant to expand veterans exhibit

The Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center in Litchfield, Illinois, recently won a $30,000 grant to help expand its Veterans' Room there. Anne Jackson, secretary of the welcome center, detailed the windfall in a letter to the Journal-News: The Litchfield Chamber of Commerce had been housed in the museum since our opening.  They decided to … Continue reading Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center wins $30,000 grant to expand veterans exhibit

Litchfield museum says to keep that coronavirus memorabilia

The coronavirus pandemic is ongoing in the United States and many parts of the world, but the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center in Litchfield, Illinois, wants people to retain their memorabilia from the ordeal even before it's over. Anne Jackson, secretary for the museum, wrote a letter to the The Journal-News, based in … Continue reading Litchfield museum says to keep that coronavirus memorabilia

Ariston Cafe put up for sale

The landmark Ariston Cafe, located on old Route 66 in Litchfield, Illinois, and owned by the same family for 90 years, has been put up for sale for $1.2 million. The restaurant was listed on an online real-estate site here by Jim Simpson and Shannon Simpson Hall of Century 21 in Litchfield. Ariston co-owner Nick … Continue reading Ariston Cafe put up for sale

Oklahoma senator again criticizes Route 66 preservation program

U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) again targets the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program with his "Wastebook," an annual publication released Tuesday that cites alleged government waste. In the publication, Coburn criticized the $81,224 the program awarded in cost-share grants to restore the roof of the historic DeCamp Junction near Staunton, Ill., the climate-control system of … Continue reading Oklahoma senator again criticizes Route 66 preservation program

Vic Suhling / Gas For Less sign glows again after 40-plus years

The restoration of the historic Vic Suhling / Gas For Less neon sign was unveiled Saturday evening next to the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center in Litchfield, Ill. According to a news release, up to 200 people attended the event, including two of Suhling's daughters Bonnie and Bernice, one who traveled from Portland, … Continue reading Vic Suhling / Gas For Less sign glows again after 40-plus years

Vic Suhling sign will be relighted Oct. 26

The relighting of the soon-to-be-restored Vic Suhling / Gas for Less neon sign in Litchfield, Ill., will occur at dusk Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center, according to a release this week from the Neon Heritage Preservation Committee of the Route 66 Association of Missouri. The new museum, at 334 … Continue reading Vic Suhling sign will be relighted Oct. 26

Vic Suhling sign in Litchfield taken down for restoration

On Thursday, the historic Vic Suhling / Gas for Less sign along Route 66 in Litchfield, Ill., was removed for the first time in decades so it can be restored and reinstalled next to the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center. A St. Louis shop is doing the work. Plans are for the refurbished … Continue reading Vic Suhling sign in Litchfield taken down for restoration