Seen along historic Route 66 in Illinois. The Route 66 Mural, Bob Waldmire Memorial is located on the 1898 Rathburn Building, at the intersection of W. Madison & N. Main Street, Pontiac, Illinois. The mural features a map of the entire length of Route 66. The mural is 66 feet in length and was designed by Bob from his sickbed just a short time before he passed away in 2009. Completed in 2011, it was painted in Bob's memory by members of the Waldmire family and about 500 of Bob's friends from along the entire Mother Road. Robert (Bob) 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. U.S. Route 66 in Illinois connected St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois. The historic Route 66, first known as the Main Street of America and later dubbed the Mother Road by novelist John Steinbeck in 1939, took long distance automobile travelers from Chicago to Southern California. Illinois was the first of the eight states through which the route ran to have its segment of US 66 completed at a time when much of Route 66 was still a gravel-and-dirt road. Route 66 in Illinois has now been largely replaced with Interstate 55. Parts of the original route still carry traffic and six separate portions of the roadbed have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.—Wikipedia—This image was processed as an HDR (High Dynamic Range) composition.
Seen along historic Route 66 in Illinois. Located outside the Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame and Museum, this Route 66 Illinois sign/tourist information highlights landmarks along historic Route 66 within Illinois. U.S. Route 66 in Illinois connected St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois. The historic Route 66, first known as the Main Street of America and later dubbed the Mother Road by novelist John Steinbeck in 1939, took long distance automobile travelers from Chicago to Southern California. Illinois was the first of the eight states through which the route ran to have its segment of US 66 completed at a time when much of Route 66 was still a gravel-and-dirt road. Route 66 in Illinois has now been largely replaced with Interstate 55. Parts of the original route still carry traffic and six separate portions of the roadbed have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.—Wikipedia
