<- Southbound Lexington (8 miles)   Chenoa, IL   Northbound -> Pontiac (11 miles)

County: McLean, IL Population: 1845 Two-Lane: 1926-19?? Four-Lane: 19??-1977 Chenoa on the Web: chenoail.org Landmarks: Chenoa Pharmacy, open since the late 1880s in downtown Chenoa.   Matthew T. Scott House, constructed between 1855 and 1863. Split downtown stretch features city museum and multiple gothic stone structures along with several large murals.

Your long, interesting trip through McLean County - an area so large it can claim to best Rhode Island in square miles - either begins or ends (depending on your direction of travel) in the lovely town of Chenoa, a hamlet settled mostly on the northeast side of the intersection of US Highways 24 and 66.

The village was founded in 1854 by Matthew T. Scott who moved to the area from Kentucky at the age of twenty-seven and over the next few years purchased and developed over 40,000 acres of farmland in Illinois including about 5,000 around Chenoa. That included a lot on 1st Avenue where he built his home; known today as the Matthew T. Scott Home, it was restored and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It opens for tours each Sunday afternoon.

Head off of the Mother Road for a few blocks and you'll encounter one of Illinois' cutest downtowns, a several block stretch dotted with numerous historic buildings. Shops and a town museum fill the gothic-looking eastern half of the city center, with stone structures resembling small castles housing local establishments and giving the village a unique feel. On the north end of downtown a large painted mural decorates the southside of one building celebrating elements of the town's history while a block south a vivid blue reproduction of a Selz Royal Blue Shoes welcomes Route 66 travelers to the heart of Chenoa.

Amidst the east side of the downtown stretch is the Chenoa Pharmacy, an Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame member since 2005. Originally Schuirman's Drug Store, the business has been in operation dating back to the late 1880s and the classic interior still bears many of the early features of this historic establishment. Despite the town's proximity to Pontiac, there are a number of small businesses that have stayed alive even without residing near US 24's intersection with Interstate 55.


The original northbound two-lane route followed a no-longer-paved path on the east side of the Chicago & Alton Railroad that becomes Veto Street on the east side of the intersection of Morehead and Cemetary. At Cemetary Avenue (US 24) it traveled north along Morehead until intersecting with the later bypass route. Starting in 1946 the bypass curved a few blocks further to the west side of the city to bypass the residential neighborhoods.

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