Life Span: 1926-1985
Chicago Tribune, November 20, 1925
16 OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS TO GO THROUGH ILLINOIS
Jardine 0. K.’s Plan for U.S. Marked Routes.
Washington, D. C., Nov. 19.-(AP)-
Sixteen of the 144 “United States highways” approved today by Secretary Jardine as a national system of roads traversing the country, are routed through Illinois. Twelve of them cross the state, while four are internal in origin, one of which goes outside the state.
Seven either originate at or pass through Chicago. The Illinois roads, with their designations and routings, are:
- No. 10—Detroit, Mich., to Seattle, Wash., through Chicago, Madison, Wis., Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Idaho.
No. 20—Boston to Astoria, Ore., through Chicago, Rockford and Dubuque, Ia.
No. 24—Pontiac, Mich., to Monroe, Mo., through Peru, Ind., Gilman, Peoria, Rushville and Quincy, Ill.
From Sea to Salt Lake.
No. 30—Atlantic City, N. J., to Salt Lake City, Utah, through Joliet, Geneva, IIl., and Clinton, Ia.
No. 32-Chicago to Omaha, through Mendota, Rock Island, Ill., and Iowa i City.
No. 34—Sheffield,, IIl., to Omaha, through Galesburg, Burlington, Ia., and Ottumwa.
No. 36—Indianapolis, Ind., to Colby, Kas., through Tuscola, Decatur.
Springfield and Jacksonville, III., and Hannibal and St. Joseph, Mo.
No. 40—Wilmington,Del., to San Francisco, through Indianapolis, Ind., Effingham, Ill., and St. Louis, Mo. (formerly known as the National Old Trails highway).
No. 41—Powers, Mich. (upper peninsula), to Naples, Fla., through Wisconsin, Chicago, and Attica and Terre Haute, Ind.
No. 45 Chicago to Meridian, Miss., through Kankakee, Urbana, Effingham, Fairfield, and Vienna, Ill., and Paducah, Ky.
No. 50—Annapolis, Md., to Wadsworth, Nev., through Vincennes, Ind., Lawrenceville and Salem, Ill., and St. Louis.
No. 51—Hurley, Wis., to New Or-leans, through Madison, Wis., Rock-ford, Mendota, Bloomington, Decatur, Vandalia, and Cairo, Ill.
No. 60—Chicago to Los Angeles, through Bloomington, Springfield, and St. Louis.
No. 124—Peoria to Galesburg, connecting Routes 34 and 24.
No. 330—Chicago to Geneva.
No. 430—Geneva to Elgin and Crystal Lake, IIl.
Routes 330, 430, and 30 connect at Geneva.
Chicago Tribune, November 20, 1925
- Route 60 designation in Red
- Route 66 designations in Red
State of Illinois Map
1935
Chicago Tribune, June 15, 2025
ONE CENTURY, ONE ROAD
Route 66, ‘The Main Street of America,’ turns 100
By Jonathan Bullington and E. Jason Wambsgans
It was created to connect us, a fused chain of existing roadways many unpaved that stretched 2,448 miles across eight states and three time zones, starting steps from Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago and ending near the Pacific Ocean and Santa Monica’s famed fishing pier.
Route 66, “The Main Street of America.”
There is perhaps no better-known highway anywhere in the world. In its 100-year history, it has offered safe passage to Dust Bowl refugees, World War II transports and vacationing families. John Steinbeck called it “the mother road, the road of flight.” Nat King Cole crooned about its kicks in a 1946 hit song. Disney and Pixar took inspiration from it for a 2006 blockbuster.
The famed highway conjured images of quirky roadside attractions, mom-and-pop diners, neon-signed motels and art deco service stations. Each mile promised freedom, escape, adventure, exploration. It introduced countless Americans to their country, to vast lands that previously existed only in the collective imagination.
Despite being decommissioned in 1985 in favor of a faster and wider interstate highway system, Route 66 continues to capture our imaginations in the remnants of its past glory that remain today.
Now, Route 66 boosters in all eight states (Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California) are gearing up to celebrate the iconic route on its centennial in 2026.
Ahead of next year’s anniversary, the Chicago Tribune will set out across Route 66 to introduce readers to the people and places it was designed to connect the entertaining characters and roadside oddities, the business owners trying to revitalize their pieces of history and the voices that had been previously obscured in the roadway’s lore.
In pursuit of the unknown, we’re starting our journey at the farthest point from home, in Santa Monica, and working our way back to Chicago.
Along the way, we’ll explore whether the highway still has the power to unite a deeply divided country and learn what it has to tell us about the current state of our nation.
- Route 66
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