For the past few weeks, the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois, embarked on an ambitious project to list daily a landmark on Route 66 in the state.
It was called 66 Things About Route 66, and each entry featured a photograph and a few paragraphs about it.
The newspaper finished No. 66 on Tuesday morning. You can peruse the list here.
Most of the things on the list likely will be familiar to Route 66 fans. But the newspaper included a few obscurities, including the Double H Bar in Sherman, an original section of Route 66 near Lake Springfield, Montgomery County prairie restoration and Elkhart Hill.
You’ll probably find it an education.
Yes: I’m from Illinois, and I *did* learn a few things. However, the series highlighted the little town of Bunker Hill as a route 66 town. It’s not, of course. I wrote the author of the series to ask about it but I’ve never received a response.
Seriously?? Only one point of interest north of I-80 (Dell Rhea’s)?!? You’d think Route 66 started in Joliet or something. In a list like this, I’d expect at least two or three mentions of something in Chicago proper … like the eastern terminus next to the Art Institute, which itself predates the route (it was there when Route 66 opened for business right next to the museum, and so was the Fountain of the Great Lakes, the real piece of public art that marks the route — not Buckingham Fountain, which is a few blocks away). I understand the effort to highlight little-known spots along the route, but truly, one could have put together a list of 100 spots in Illinois if one were willing to admit that some of them are north of Joliet. Talk about a downstate bias …
The SJR site is hard to navigate and locks up frequently because of lengthy scripts that DON’T WORK. Google Chrome browser seemed to handle it better. Unfortunately there’s so much more advertising than information on their webpages, it can be frustrating if you haven’t learned to tune it out.
As to the content, I was disappointed. I guess I’m saying that, if yours truly had been asked to pick 66 things, I would have produced a different list. I do see, however, a couple of gems that had escaped my notice before.
The City of Springfield is way over-represented, with fourteen venues. This cannot be attributed to mere chance. I suspect a bias. Consider that the SJR is based in Springfield and…
Atlanta and Pontiac are the only other cities that got significant coverage (not that they don’t deserve it because they DO).
I counted six venues that are either closed for business or no longer exist. Why were these included in the list? As wonderful as those places were, there’s nothing there anymore, except for the die-hard roadies who are totally into the history.
The inclusion of the town of Bunker Hill is truly bizarre. As far as I know, Bunker Hill has no historic connection to Route 66 — or, at least, no one has ever mentioned it to me. With over 300 miles of Route 66 on multiple alignments, there is SO MUCH OUT THERE. How did the editor justify including a city that’s off the route?
Finally, while the writers got the facts right most of the time, I was looking for more depth. I’d like to give them more credit but, in my opinion, the final result was mainly a fluff-piece. Not that Route 66 can’t use all the press it can get — as long as it’s GOOD press!
Any tourist or seasoned roadie who wants to drive Route 66 deserves the best guidance and up-to-date information available. Unfortunately, this isn’t it.