A new outdoor exhibit in Atlanta, Illinois, offers drivers a chance to cruise down a 1924 section of highway that became the original Route 66 two years later.
The quarter-mile section gives drivers a taste of what it was like to drive old Route 66 nearly a century ago. That section was part of Illinois Highway 4, the first paved road in Logan County, that later was designated U.S. 66 in 1926.
According to the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway, that section of road was abandoned after World War II when a new Route 66 bypass was constructed.
The segment is on the city’s north side where Sycamore Street veers east from Arch Street. It also can be found through this Google Maps link here.
According to The Courier in nearby Lincoln, Illinois:
Whitney Ortiz, Atlanta Tourism Development Director, said the exhibit gives a realistic experience of what traveling was like in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s.
“The approximately one quarter-mile stretch of highway maintains its original 18ft width, allowing only 9ft wide lanes for traveling vehicles. Items installed along the sides of the road include a period appropriate yellow stop sign [a color scheme eventually abandoned due to how difficult it was to see after dark], replicas of original speed limit and Atlanta population signs, as well as the classic black/white Route 66 shield, which at one time marked the entirety of the road from Illinois to California,” said Ortiz.
“A period billboard at the alignment’s south end presents visitors to Atlanta with a fun photo op featuring an iconic image of a family road trip, complete with mom, dad, kids and dog in the car’s backseat. An Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway Program interpretive panel sits at the north end of the exhibit to tell the story of how horse and mule teams were used to grade and build this stretch of road through Logan County.”
The article notes the narrow, dead-end section may not be suitable for large RVs or vehicles pulling campers.
The segment brings to mind Memory Lane in Lexington, Illinois, though its segment often is closed to the public.
(Image of the billboard near the original Route 66 section of road in Atlanta, Illinois, via Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway; excerpted image from Google Street View of the original Route 66 roadbed in Atlanta, Illinois)