A longtime friend and a family member aim to keep Henry’s Rabbit Ranch along old Route 66 in Staunton, Illinois, going through at least the highway’s centennial in 2026.
Bob Caldieraro, who knew founder Rich Henry for decades, said he and Henry’s sister, Michelle, reopened Henry’s Rabbit Ranch about two weeks after his death at age 77 in August.
Caldieraro said in a phone interview Wednesday he lives only about one minute from Henry’s complex.
Generally, Caldieraro said Henry’s Rabbit Ranch would be open from about 10 or 11 a.m. to noon, break for lunch, then reopen from 1 to about 3:30 or 4 p.m. He asked that visitors call 618-409-6010 to make sure he’s there or make arrangements.
They offer sales of merchandise on a cash-only basis.
Visitors are also free to roam the grounds if no one’s there.
To that end, this sign was posted at the site shortly after Henry’s death:
Caldieraro said Henry’s Rabbit Ranch would be open while the family sorts out Henry’s estate.
“I’d like to see this kept, if at all possible, through 2026, the centennial,” he said, adding that the mayor of Staunton also wants Henry’s Rabbit Ranch to keep operating.
Caldieraro said travelers from Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands have signed the guest book since Henry’s death, noting Henry’s Rabbit Ranch receives as many foreign-born travelers as domestic ones.
When Caldieraro isn’t around, Henry’s sister Michelle often oversees the place.
“She loves it,” Caldieraro said. “She enjoys the travelers, too.”
Longtime mainstays that aren’t at Henry’s Rabbit Ranch anymore are the live rabbits. Caldieraro said seven bunnies lived there at the time of Henry’s death. Six were contracted to be returned to the adoption agency from where they came, and the seventh was taken in by the girlfriend of one of Henry’s sons.
Rich Henry founded his place after a trip on Route 66 in 1993 and noticed the lack of visitor centers for such travelers.
Henry’s Rabbit Ranch, which doubled as a tag agency, insurance office and souvenir shop for years, was so named because Henry kept pet rabbits — sometimes by the dozens — on the premises. He trained one or two so tourists could pet them or get their souvenirs or passports “stamped” by the animal chewing a hole in the edge of the paper.
The genial Henry also kept a few Volkswagen Rabbit cars around, along with a fiberglass giant rabbit — similar to one at Jackrabbit Trading Post in Arizona — that tourists could mount for a photo op.
Henry kept a couple of Campbell 66 Express truck trailers on the premises after the trucking firm, based in Springfield, Missouri, closed in 1986. Henry once was a truck driver.
Henry’s Rabbit Ranch was inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame in 2012.
(Image of Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, Illinois, by Nicholas Kaeser via Flickr)