Landmarks on Route 66

Landmarks & Sights along U.S. Route 66

States are listed East to West from Illinois to Kansas (this page) and Oklahoma to California (next page). Towns listed from East to West within each state.

Illinois Route 66 Landmarks

Route 66 begins in Illinois for those heading west (and ends for those going east). There are plenty of Rte 66 landmarks on the plains of Illinois.

Cafes, Diners and Restaurants

Berghoff Restaurant (Chicago)
Historic Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant (Chicago)
Henry’s Drive-In (Cicero)
The first White Castle (Berwyn)

Sponsored

Gemini Giant, Wilmington, Illinois

Historic Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket (Willowbrook)
Site of World's First Dairy Queen (Joliet)
Polk-A-Dot Drive-In (Braidwood)
Weitz Cafe (Braidwood)
Former Coffeehouse (Dwight)
Big Al’s Hot Dogs (Dwight) - (Gone)
Cozy Inn Restaurant (Pontiac)
Old Log Cabin Restaurant (Pontiac)
First Steak ’n Shake (Normal)
Historic Palms Grill Café (Atlanta)
The Mill Museum on 66 (Lincoln)
Pig Hip Marker & Sign (Broadwell)
Double H Bar (Sherman)
Historic Ariston Café (Litchfield)
Decamp Junction Roadhouse (Staunton)
Hamel Haven (Hamel)

The Bluesmobile, a replica in Joliet, Illinois

Gas Stations

Castle Car Wash (Chicago)
Former Mercury Oil gas station (Chicago)
Former Amoco Gas Station (Chicago)
Former Phillips gas station (Berwyn)

Soulsby’s Service Station, Mt. Olive Pechristener

Historical Standard Oil Gas Station (Plainfield)
Rossi’s Service Station (Braidwood)
Historic Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station (Dwight)
Historic Standard Oil Gasoline Station (Odell)
Abandoned Old Mobil Station (Odell)
Archie’s Standard Service (Pontiac)
Anderson’s Corner old gas station (Lexington)
Vintage Gas Station (Normal)
Historic Sprague’s Super Service (Normal)

The Neon Sign of the Historic Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket, Willowbrook. Marcin Wichary

Quinn service station (Bloomington)
Former Evans Gas Station (Bloomington)
Logan Service Station (Lincoln)
Former Dial’s Texaco (Lincoln)
Cottage Style gas station (Lincoln)
Sinclair station (Lincoln)
Vintage Service Station (Lincoln)
Werth Standard Gas Station (Lincoln)
Former Gas Station (Elkhart)
Casey’s Garden Shop (Bloomington)
Hilarious Route 66 Gas Station (Williamsville)

Castle Car Wash former gas station in Chicago

Fawn’s Standard Service Station (Williamsville)
Former Bill Shea’s Gas Station Museum (Springfield)
Mahan’s Filling Station (Springfield)
Historic Soulsby’s Shell Service Station (Mt. Olive)
Former Gas Station (Mt. Olive)
Abandoned gas station (Hamel)
Old gas cottage style station, Eck Auto (Collinsville)
Former Service Station (Collinsville)
Phillips Gull Wing station (East St. Louis)Former Gas Station (East St. Louis)
Another Gull Wing station (East St. Louis)
West End Service Station (Edwardsville)
Former Gas Station (Venice)
Old Gas Station (Granite City)

Motels & Hotels on US 66 in Illinois

Americana & Kitsch

The World’s Largest Laundromat (Berwyn)
Rich and Creamy Ice Cream Stand (Joliet)
Dick’s Towing (Joliet)
Bluesmobile (Joliet)
Gemini Giant (Wilmington)
Sinclair Dinosaur (Wilmington)

The Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower, Collinsville. Tristan Denyer

Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup (Funks Grove)
Muffler Man Holding Hot Dog (Atlanta)
Lincoln Watermelon Slice Monument (Lincoln)
Phone Booth on Lincoln City Hall (Lincoln)
World’s Largest Covered Wagon (Lincoln)
Lauterbatch Muffler Man (Springfield)
Rail Splitter: Skinny Abe Lincoln Statue (Springfield)
Barn with 13-star flag painted on it (Nilwood)
Pink Elephant Antique Mall (Livingston)
Henry’s Rabbit Ranch (Staunton)
Historic Largest Catsup Bottle in the World (Collinsville)
Fiberglass Cow store sign (Edwardsville)

Neon Signs and Murals

Sonrise Donuts neon sign, Springfield

Vintage Neon Signs

Neon signs awaken a feeling of nostalgia for bygone days. They were a key advertising tool for diners, motels and restaurants across the nation from the mid 1920s to the mid 1960s.

They were built with kitschy eyecatching colorful designs.

But by the early 1970s neon signs fell out of grace: they were hand made and therefore costly. The appearance of cheap mass made fluorescent-lamp, backlit, plastic box signs for shops and stores marked the end of the neon sign era.

Fabulous McCook neon sign (McCook)
Pontiac Murals (Pontiac)
Selz Royal Blue Shoes Mural (Chenoa)
Lexington Neon Arrow Sign (Lexington)

Turkey Tracks sign, Nilwood, Il. Jim Grey

Tropics Neon Sign (Lincoln)
Sonrise Donuts (Springfield)
Vic Suhling Neon Sign (Litchfield)
Nite Spot Café neon sign (Fairmont City)
Kriege Hardware ⁄ Deweys Pizza neon sign (Edwardsville)
Dairy Master neon sign (Madison)

Route 66 stuff

Eastern Terminus of Route 66 (Chicago)
The Lincoln Highway Meets Route 66 (Plainfield)
Lincoln Highway and Route 66 in Joliet (Joliet)
Odell Subway Tunnel (Odell)
Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum (Pontiac)
Cayuga to Chenoa Historic section of US 66 (Chenoa)
Memory Lane (Lexington)
The Route 66 Parkway (Towanda)
Towanda Dead Man’s Curve (Towanda)
Historic Brick Road (Auburn)
Historic Route 66 Girard to Nilwood (Nilwood)
Turkey Tracks on 1926 US66 (Nilwood)

Buildings, historic sites, architecture, theaters

And this ends our long list of Illinois landmarks, but there are plenty more, you can find a specific landmark in any of the state's towns:

Towns on US 66 in Illinois

Check out the Route 66 towns in Illinois learn all about their notable places, history, attractions, wheather, how to get there, where to stay and much more.

Misouri US 66 Landmarks

Starting at St. Louis with its "Gateway Arch" Route 66 has quite a few landmarks along its Missouri alignment.
We list them categorized and within each category, detailed from Eeast to West. Enjoy your roadtrip!

Munger Moss Motel's classic neon sign, Lebanon MO
Marcin Wichary

Landmark Categories

• Route 66 Classics & Kitsch
• Stores
• Cemeteries, Churches & Bridges
• Neon Signs
• Museums
• Garages
• Historic Places
• Vintage Gas Statons
• Classic Motels, Hotels and Tourist Camps

Route 66 classics & Kitsch

Giant Sign (St. Louis)
Gateway Arch (St. Louis)
Pink Elephant (Fenton)
Route 66 State Park (Times Beach)

Wilders Steakhouse, Joplin Missouri

Meramec Caverns painted Barn sign (St. Clair)
Indian Harvest Trading Post Teepees (St. Clair)
Meramec State Park (Sullivan)
Route 66 Viva Cuba Murals (Cuba)
The World's (second) Largest Rocking Chair (Fanning)
Hillbilly Sign (Rolla)
Totem Pole Antiques (Rolla)
Larry Baggett's Trail of Tears Memorial (Jerome)
Uranus Missouri (St. Robert)
Frog Rock (Waynesville)
Giant Bowling Pin (Buckhorn)
Replica of the Hubble Space Telescope (Marshfield)
Birthplace of Route 66 Roadside Park (Springfield)
Mural on Route 66 (Springfield)
Birthplace of Route 66 (Springfield)

Historic Sites

Old Gillioz theater on Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri, by Abe Ezekowitz

Chain of Rocks Bridge (St. Louis)
International Shoe Company Building (St. Clair)
Cuba City Jail (Calaboose) (Cuba)
Dillon House (1857) (Rolla)
Historic County Jail (1860) (Rolla)
Fort Leonard Wood (St. Robert)
George M. Reed Roadside Park (St. Robert)
Site of Waynesville Fort (Waynesville)
Historic Stagecoach Stop (Waynesville)
Historic County Courthouse (Waynesville)
Woodruff Building (Springfield)
Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Mosque (Springfield)
Gillioz Theatre (Springfield)
Old Jail: Calaboose (Springfield)
Pythian Castle (Springfield)
Historic Rock Fountain Tourist Court (Springfield)

Gary's Gay Parita Sinclair Gas Station
Paris Springs MO, openroads.com

Post Office (Avilla)
Whee Bridge (Carthage)
66 drive-in theater (Carthage)
Red Oak II (Carthage)
Superman museum (Carterville)
Praying Hands statue (Webb City)
Dales Ole 66 Barber (Joplin)
The Route 66 Mural Park (Joplin)
Bonnie and Clyde Garage Apartment (Joplin)

Vintage Service Stations

Classic Motels, Hotels and Tourist Camps

Missouri has many classic motels, some abandoned, others repurposed, and quite a few still alive and kicking lodging Route 66 travelers. Below we list some of them:

From East to West

Classic Motels from St. Louis to St. Robert

Vintage Motels from St. Robert to Joplin

Theatres

66 Drive-In Theatre, Route 66, Carthage, Missouri, by Carol Highsmith

19 Drive-In Theater (Cuba)
Holiday Drive-in Theater (Springfield)
66 drive-in theater (Carthage)
Route 66 Movie Theatre (Webb City)
Civic Theater (Webb City)
Fox Theatre (Joplin)

US 66 Diners, Cafés and Restaurants

Crown Candy Kitchen (St. Louis)
Eat-Rite Diner (St. Louis)
Bauer’s Ranch House (St. Louis)

Donuts Drive In (St. Louis)
Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (St. Louis)
Former Phil's Bar-B-Cue (Eureka)
Tri County Truck Stop (Villa Ridge)
Johnnie’s Bar (St. James)
Happy Hill Cafe (Jerome)
Old Munger-Moss Sandwich Shop (Devil's Elbow)
Site of Devil’s Elbow Café (Devil's Elbow)
Red Cedar Inn (Pacific)
Retro Route 66 Diner (St. Robert)
Skyline Cafe (Marshfield)
Former Route 66 Crawford Cafe (Strafford)
Steak ’n Shake (Springfield)
Alli’s Family Restaurant (Springfield)
Midway Service & Cafe (Avilla)
Whisler's Drive-Up (Carthage)
Carterville Dairy Creme (Carterville)
Wilder's Steakhouse (Joplin)
Fred and Red's diner (Joplin)
Mr. Swiss (Joplin)
The Colonel's Restaurant (Joplin)

Find landmarks in Missouri's US 66 Towns

Our list of Missouri's Route 66 Landmarks ends here but you can check each town individually to find more of them:

Learn all bout Missouri's Route 66 towns and their landmarks.

>> Book your    Hotels in Missouri

U.S. 66 Landmarks in Kansas

This is the shortest segment of Route 66, and there are only three towns on its alginment (from east to west): Galena, Riverton and Baxter Springs.

Some of Route 66's landmarks in Kansas

Historic Place: Downtown District Galena, KS
Abe Ezekowitz

Just ahead, in Riverton is a Historical landmark:

Historic Place: Williams' Store, now Eisler Brothers Old Riverton Store, Riverton, KS

The Williams' Store

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places

7109 SE Highway 66, Riverton, KS.

It is the oldest store still operating on US 66, this building dates back to 1925, one year before the creation of the Mother Road.

Leo Williams opened it in 1923 but a a tornado razed it, so he rebuilt it in 1925. Leo and his wife ran the store until 1970. It was acquired by Isabell and Joe Eisler in 1973 and is now managed and owned by their nephew.

It is now the "Eisler Bros Old Riverton Store".

Historic US 66 Rainbow Bridge built in 1923

Independent Oil & Gas Service Station, Kevin

End of Page 1

This concludes the list of landmarks in the states of Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. See those in the remaining states of Route 66

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Credits

Banner image: Hackberry General Store, Hackberry, Arizona by Perla Eichenblat.

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