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thoughts on entrepreneurship, content, and other random musings
thoughts on entrepreneurship, content, and other random musings
Well, I have an apology to make: I went out of order in my posts about last week's Route 66 sightseeing tour.
Please read my previous posts about Dwight, Springfield, Broadwell and Atlanta-McLean.
In fact, the third stop on my trip was Lincoln, IL, the fascinating county seat of Logan County.
Upon entering Lincoln, I happened upon the historic Postville Courthouse, which is actually a reproduction of the 1848 courthouse in which then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln frequently argued cases while traveling the 8th Judicial Circuit. At the time, what is now the town of Lincoln was named Postville.
The town changed its name in August 27, 1853 — naming it after Abraham Lincoln, who was then just a popular lawyer. As Wikipedia reports:
The town was officially named on August 27, 1853 in an unusual ceremony. Abraham Lincoln, having assisted with the platting of the town and working as counsel for the newly laid railroad which led to its founding, was asked to participate in a naming ceremony for the town. During the proceedings, Lincoln chose a ripe watermelon from a nearby wagon, broke it open, and squeezed the juice on the grounds, as an informal rite of baptism. The town of Lincoln was the first city named after Abraham Lincoln while he was a lawyer and before he was President of the United States.
In terms of the old Postville Courthouse, it is now a state historic site staffed by wonderful volunteers. The volunteer who was staffing it while I visited — her name is Wilma — provide me with a delightful 45-minute tour of hte courthouse, complete with funny anecdotes and detailed descriptions of the artifacts and furniture contained in the building.
The courthouse that exists today is a 1953 reproduction of the original building, due to the fact that Henry Ford purchased the original courthouse in 1929 and moved it to his estate in Dearborn, Michigan.
Following the courthouse, I made my way to the downtown area of Lincoln, which features its historic Logan County Courthouse, as well as a small monument marking the spot where Abraham Lincoln christened the town with a watermelon.
Please enjoy the photos below. You can click on any photo in the slideshow to view a description summary.
My fourth stop on my sightseeing tour of historic Route 66 was Atlanta, IL, followed by a brief pit stop in McLean. (You can read more about my previous stops: Dwight, Springfield and Broadwell.)
Atlanta featured a number of small treasures, including the J.J. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum, which boasts the oldest wood grain elevator in America. The elevator, which was built in 1904, was abandoned in 1977. Today, it is Illinois' only fully restored, wooden grain elevator museum listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The town also features an historic public library, which is also a National Historic Register Site. Built in 1908, the library features a "classic octagonal design" and "original turn of the century book stacks and furniture." Outside the library sits the Library Clock Tower, which was relocated to the library grounds in the 1970s, after serving as the original clock found in the tower of Atlanta High School.
This quaint town also features some great wall murals that reflect Route 66's "heydey" era -- as well as a 19-foot statue of Paul Bunyon, which was relocated from the town of Cicero, IL (at "Bunyons" Restaurant on Route 66) during the past decade. Due to a large gathering of Harley bikers right in front of the statue during my visit, I was unable to get close enough to the statue to snap a photo.
Just a short drive up Route 66 from Atlanta is the small town of McLean, which is home to the historic Dixie Truck Stop. According to the Illinois Route 66 Association, "In 1928, J.P. Walters and John Geske rented part of a mechanic’s garage here to sell sandwiches to Route 66 travelers and truckers. By the 1930s, the operation had grown to a full-fledged restaurant, cabins,and a cattle pen. The Dixie was owned and operated by the Geske family from 1928-2003 and was only closed one day after a fire in 1965."
I feature some quick photos of the Dixie Truck Stop in the photos slideshow below. Enjoy.
My third stop on my sightseeing tour of historic Route 66 was Broadwell, IL. (You can read more about my previous stops: Dwight and Springfield.)
Broadwell was a quick stop, but a fun one. As you can see from the photos below, Broadwell was once home to the famous Pig Hip Restaurant, which was open from 1937 to 1991. It served as a museum until 2007, when it was destroyed by a fire.
The proprietor of the restaurant, Ernie Edwards, worked there during the operation's entire 54-year run. Ernie's house still stands adjacent to the site and purports to be a museum, but the house was for sale and I didn't see a sign of anyone. All that remains on the actual restaurant site are the "Pig Hip" sign, some stone markers, a mural of how the restaurant and adjoining motel once looked, and the remains of the motel (photos below).
As of the 2000 Census, Broadwell only had 169 residents (it may very well be less now), but, amazingly, this small town has sent two residents to the Illinois General Assembly during the past half-century: John R. ("Jack") Lauer served as state representative from 1973 to 1978, and Robert F. ("Bob") Olson served as state representative from 1986 to 1994. You can read more about Broadwell, IL on its Wikipedia page.
Yesterday, I posted photos from the first stop -- Dwight, IL -- on my Illinois Route 66 sightseeing trip from earlier this week. After Dwight, I sped down to Springfield for a business meeting, but spent some time afterward touring some of the historic landmarks in the state capital.
I certainly didn't scratch the surface of all the sites, but visited some of the sites I hadn't been to since I was a kid. I didn't visit the popular Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, because I've been there numerous times before and was on a time crunch to work my way back home up scenic Route 66. Enjoy the photos! I continue to post a new photo set each day.Yesterday, I decided to turn an ordinary business trip to Springfield, IL (normally about a 2.5 hour drive from my home) into a sightseeing trip along historic Route 66. Over the next week, I'll post photos from that trip.
My first stop was in Dwight, IL, a short 20 minute drive from my house. We've been to Dwight many times for their annual Harvest Days Festival, and I've run in the Harvest Days 5k a number of times. But I had no idea that starting line for that race was located in a park that once served as the hunting grounds for the King of England! Or that the First National Bank of Dwight was one of only 3 banks designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright.There's some other great history in Dwight that I tried to capture in some my photos. I invite you to read more about each of these items at the following Wikipedia:Enjoy the photos:
Someone at Rahm's political shop forgot to use the merge function on their email distribution software. An easy mistake — but entertaining, nonetheless.
