Route 66 in Pontiac, IL
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Pontiac Route 66 Murals
This page describes a detour from the Route 66 alignments on the west side of the city; it is a short side trip into downtown Pontiac to visit the murals that the town is known for. This side trip will return to Route 66.
Starting Point
On Ladd St (Old Route 66) and Howard St. turn left and head into the downtown district to explore and enjoy the famous Route 66 Murals and other landmarks.
As you drive into the downtown business district along Howard St. on the fourth block after the railroad grade crossing, stop just past North Oak Street and look left for the first mural.
Humiston Heritage
305 W Howard St.
By Gary Anderson. It celebrates the Bennet Humiston Trust, created after Mrs. Harriet Humiston passed away in 1920. The Camp-Humiston pool in Chautauqua Park and Humiston Woods Nature Center are the work of the Trust. It is pictured below.
Humiston Heritage mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
A Tradition of Farming mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Cross N Plum St., and to your right is another mural:
A Tradition of Farming
218 W Howard St.
By Michael Clark, the mural pictured above depicts a steam powered tractor from the early 1900s which helped develop farming in the region. Farming is important for the city of Pontiac, who has celebrated since 1949, every Labor Day week, the Central States Threshermen's Reunion.
On the eastern side of the same building you will see the replica of an oldie vinyl record brand.
RCA Victor
218 W Howard St.
It is a vintage advertising design, from the early 1900s, like those often found on "Ghost Signs" along Route 66. Created by Bernie Gietl, Bernie Lohmeyer and Bernie Poff. See it below:
RCA Victor mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Pontiac Fire Department mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Ahead, to your left, across the street is the Fire Department:
Pontiac Fire Department
201 W Howard St.
This mural by Stephan Connor honors the city's Fire Dept., which dates back to 1865 with the chimney inspection program and 1877 when the Department was created. It is pictured above.
At N Mill St. there is a parking lot. Park and walk the downtown mural and museums tour. The historic red-brick building facing the parking lot is a "must see site", visit it now or at the end of your walk through town.
Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum
Pontiac City Hall and Fire Station
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
110 W Howard St.
This historic building now is the home of the Hall of Fame museum, you will learn all about the places and people inducted into the hall of fame plus many articles, artifacts and Route 66 memorabilia.
Open Mon. though Sun. from 9 to 5 in summer and 10 to 4 in winter. Admission: Donation only.
Mural tour continued
From the parking lot cross Howard and head south along N Mill St. to your left, on an alley is another mural:
Scatterday Soda
312 N. Mill St
Designed by Carole Bersin it remembers a local bottling company opened by H.H. Scatterday in 1881 (bottled carbonated water, club soda). See its picture below.
Scatterday Soda mural. Click for street view
Jesse Fell & Chief Pontiac mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Jesse Fell & Chief Pontiac
See another mural, just ahead, across the street almost at the corner with W. Madison St. (303 N. Mill St.)
By Judy Grossman. Jesse Fell founded Pontiac in 1837, and he named it after the famous Ottawa Indian chief who rebelled against the British in the mid 1760s. Pictured above.
Turn left along Madison. Across the street is the historic county courthouse:
Historic Livingston County Courthouse
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
112 W Madison St, Pontiac
Construction began in 1874, it is a Second Empire Styled building, with a central clock tower, 70-feet high, topping the building.
Historic Livingston County Courthouse in Pontiac, Illinois
The Downtown Hotels mentioned by Rittenhouse in 1946
In his "A Guide Book to Highway 66" published in 1946, Jack DeVere Rittenhouse describes the entire Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. In it, he wrote the following about Pontiac:
Pontiac is a half-mile east of US 66... gas; stores; no cabins; hotels: Phoenix, Maple Rest, Imperial, Illinois; Jones Co garage Rittenhouse (1946)
These hotels were located here, near the main square and courthouse.
Illinois Hotel
Described in 1948 as having 40 rooms and costing $ 2 and up per night. It was located at 201 E Washington St. Gone.
Imperial Hotel
Imperial Hotel in 1948, Pontiac. Source. Click image to enlarge
Another 40 room hotel, in a three-story building, that cost $1.25 nightly. It was located on the corner of Chicago and Livingston Streets. It was managed by Joseph Weber Eymann in the 1940's and by the Gleason family in the early 1950's.
Maple Rest Inn
Maple Rest Inn 1940s matchcover. Source
Located at 366 W Washington St. with 17 rooms and owned by A. A. Capes, it cost $ 1.75 per night.
Phoenix Hotel
The fire of July 4, 1874 started by a firecracker burned down the brand new hotel. It was quickly rebuilt and stood at 102 W Washington. It was razed in the 1970s.
Continuing the Murals Tour
On the south side of the lawn is a statue of Abraham Lincoln who visited Pontiac many times between 1840 and 1860. Facing the historic building, is a sidewalk mural
Sidewalk Shark
107 W Madison St. By Tang Dongbai, a sidewalk painting depicting sharks and a dolphin as a hole in the sidewalk! Shown below.
Sidewalk Shark painting, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Chautauqua Assembly mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Chautauqua Assembly
Keep going, cross Main Street and to your right, on the south east corner is a great mural at 100 E Madison St.
The work of David and Susie Butler and Dan Sawatzky. It tells about the famous Assembly that originated in Lake Chautaqua in New York in 1874, an assembly of teachers, preachers, entertainers that brought a touch of culture and fun to the community. It was adopted by Pontiac in 1898, and was repeated over the next 30 years, in Riverside Park. Image above.
Waldmire Memorial
Return to Main Street and turn right, heading north. There are two murals here, one to your right and one across the street.
300 N Main St. By Bob Waldmire. To your right. It is a 66-foot long map of Route 66, Waldmire's posthumous design from 2009, and painted by family, and some 500 friends (each of whom left a handprint on the mural).
Bob was the owner of the US 66 Hackberry General Store, and one of Route 66 best known artists.
Waldmire Memorial mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Drink Coca Cola mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Drink Coca Cola
Across the street on is the "Coke" mural, at 303 N Main St.
There was a 1920s Coca-Cola advertisement here, at this exact spot. The Corsairs are WWII figher planes and are a homage to the US veterans. Painted by Sonny Franks.
A few feet ahead, to your left you will find several murals in the Pontiac Museum's Parking Lot:
Rodino Square
Formerly at 310 N Main St., now on the western wall of the Museum's parking area Rodino Square was a Service Stop with gas station, restaurant, garage, grocery store and a hotel opened in 1927 by Carmen Rodino on Route 66. Mural by Dale Manor. The store closed in the late 1970s. Pictured below.
Rodino Square mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Palace of Sweets mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Palace of Sweets
The first mural on the southern facade that faces the parking lot. By Cam Bortz. It was a candy store and soda fountain on Madison and Mill streets.
As you walk into the parking lot, the next two murals (Street vies) along the alley are of a Soda Shop and a Gas Station.
Roszell's Soda Shop
By Joe Diaz, it celebrates the American small town soda fountain. There was a diary in Pontiac with this name in the early 1900s.
Roszells Soda Fountain depicted in a mural, Pontiac, Il. Credits
Daniels Oil mural, Pontiac, Il. Credits
Daniels Oil
Daniels was a gas station in downtown Pontiac on Mill and Water Streets. By Diaz Sign Art.
Now turn around and on the south wall of the Route 66 museum building is the best known Route 66 Mural:
Route 66 Shield Mural
By Diaz Sign Art. It is the oldest mural in town, painted in 2006 it decorates the exterior wall of the Route 66 Hall of Fame Museum.
The bricks on the floor, are original Route 66 paving bricks. Drive along it and take a photo of your vehicle on the original bricks!
Route 66 Shield Mural in Pontiac, Illinois
The last mural in this alley is on the upper right corner of the museum:
Bloomington, Pontiac, & Joliet Interurban Railroad
This railroad (the BP&J) ran streetcars from Pontiac to Odell and Dwight (never reached Bloomington or Joliet) between 1905 and 1925, its initials gave it the affectionate name of "Bump, Push and Jerk". By Rob Estes.
BP &J streetcar mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
original Wishing Well motel neon sign, Pontiac, Il (and original location -inset). Click for St. view
Wishing Well Motel Sign
66 Roadside Attraction
The original Wishing Well motel was located on Brainard Ave. and Route 66 in Countryside, near Chicago. It opened in 1941 with 10 cabins later unified into one building with 19 units. It closed in 2006 and was razed. The stone well from its front yard and its classic neon sign have been preserved here at the museum. This is a 2007 view of the neon sign at its original location.
Above is a view of the old sign at its original location.
Return to Main, and turn right along E. Howard St., this is the local newspaper's building (the Daily Leader), at its eastern tip is another mural:
Weekly Sentinel
120 E Howard St. By Mancy Benett, it depicts a paperboy delivering the newspaper on his bicycle. The Pontiac Sentinel opened in 1857 and kept operating until the early 1900s.
Weekly Sentinel Mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Abe Lincoln and Strevell House Mural. Click for street view
Turn around and head back to your car. Drive west and turn right along Main St. heading south. On the NE corner of Main and Washington you will see another mural
Abe Lincoln & Strevell House Mural
101 E Washington St. By Mike Meyer and Adam May. Abraham Lincoln visited Pontiac in January 1860. Local lawyer Jason Strevell measured Lincoln because he couldn't believe that he was taller than he was. He measured the future President and found him to be 6 feet 4.
Continue along Main and take a right at the next street (Water St.) just two blocks ahead park at Mill Street. To your left, next to the bridge across Vermilion River is a billboard with murals on both of its sides.
Vermilion River and Mill
Mill St. and Vermilion River bridge. By Francisco Vargas. It is designed as a 5 cent stamp and shows the River and Williams' Mill (1860s-1957). The Vermilion River flows in a northerly direction from its origin in Livingston and Ford Counties in north central Illinois, eventually emptying into the Illinois. This water will reach the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. The mural also shows one of the town's swinging bridges.
Vermilion River and Mill mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Welcome to Pontiac Mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Welcome to Downtown
The mural on the billboard's side facing the river was the work of Diaz Sign Art, in a 1950s sytle, welcoming travelers to Pontiac.
Turn back along Mill St. towards the downtown area and take a left on Washington, on the NW corner is another classic mural.
Pontiac Route 66
201 W Washington St. A stylized representation of Route 66, Pontiac, roadtrips and the journey from Illinois to Los Angeles. By Tom and Kathy Durham.
Pontiac Route 66 Mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Allen Candy Co. Mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Turn left on W Madison and to your left in the middle of the block is the Candy Co. mural:
Allen Candy Co.
220 W Madison St.
Founded by Harry Allen in the late 1800s it sold the best candies like the Allen Nougat Bar and the Lotta Bar. It also made ice cream. Mural by Jay Allen.
Drive west until N Oak St.
Cottage Style Gas Station?
To your left on the corner is a cottage-style building that may have been a gas station. Ahead, across N. Oak, to your right is the final mural:
Cottage Style gas station, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
Route 66 and the Pontiac Auto Mural, Pontiac, Il. Click for street view
1926 - Route 66 & the Pontiac Auto
309 N Oak St. By Tang Dongbai it shows the 1926 Route 66 with its red brick paving and the 1926 Pontiac made by General Motors. And this is the End of your Murals Tour, you can visit some of the city's museums (see below) or drive straight west along Madison back to N Ladd St.
End of the Murals Tour
This ends your sightseeing tour of Pontiac's Murals, head back to Old Route 66 to continue your U.S. 66 landmarks tour in Pontiac.
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Credits
Banner image: Hackberry General Store, Hackberry, Arizona by Perla Eichenblat
Jack DeVere Rittenhouse, (1946). A Guide Book to Highway 66.
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