Along with the rise of the US Highway System came an obvious cohort: the gas station. Americans started sipping their gallons from curbside pumps at the local grocier around the turn of the century, and twenty-five years later the automobile service industry started to mature. Between 1920 and 1930 the number of gas stations in the United States soared from around 15,000 to just shy of 124,000, a clear indication of the automobile revolution gripping the nation at the outset of the Great Depression.

A great number of these stations - like many of their brethren today - were owned by individuals in small towns looking to get their foot in the door of this brand new industry. They installed pumps at small shacks and hastily built service bays to increase their business past the standard fill'er up. With gas prices cheap and Americans looking for an inexpensive getaway, it was a golden era for the local service station.

Route 66 was no exception. Along the way the Mother Road was dotted by gas stations from its very inception, and while the interstate slowly robbed the road of a few relics from the early days of the highways still remain to this day. While a few remain hidden to travelers by peeling paint and a lack of pomp and circumstance, a few have been restored to their former glory and stand out as some of the most attractive landmarks the road has to offer in Illinois.

The longest-operating service station on Route 66, this north-Central Illinois business was in operation from the early days of the highway (1933) until long past its decertification in Illinois, closing its doors in 1999. To be more accurate, the business moved out towards the interstate and is still open today serving the people of Livingston County and travelers speeding past just out of - or getting ever closer to - the Windy City. The building was offered to the city of Dwight shortly after it closed and in 2007 was completely rehabilitated to bear the colors and signage of its glory days along the Mother Road and soon after opened as a Route 66 Welcome Center for this historic town.

Ambler/Becker Texaco Dwight, Illinois 1933 - 1990s For more information and photographs visit the Dwight page.

For almost twenty-five years this small town just north of Bloomington/Normal played home to Eddie's Pure Truck Stop, later Eddie's Pure/Union 76. Open twenty-four hours a day, the business offered cheap lodging for truckers, but as the road moved to the west of town business dwindled and at the end of May, 1976 the 76 was forced to close its doors. No relics of the old stop remain, but a plaque has been erected along the Geographic Journey in Towanda to celebrate its history. In 1996 Eddie's Pure Truck Stop was inducted into the Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame.

Eddie's Pure Truck Stop Towanda, Illinois 1952 - 1976 For more information and photographs visit the Towanda page.

In operation for almost seventy years, this classic station resides along old US 66 in the coal mining community of Mount Olive. Founded in 1926, the station was soon to be blessed by the presence of Route 66. The station offered no room for repairs, so a ramp was set outside to the south of the station to allow access to the undercarriage. A tree sprouted between the tire ramps, and today its trunk rises up out of the beginning of the incline, keeping any classic cars from ascending the structure. The Route 66 Association of Illinois began preservation efforts in the early 2000s, replacing the gas pumps with classic replicas and giving the station a fresh coat of paint. Soulsby's Shell Station and longtime proprieter Russell Soulsby were among the Association's first ever Hall of Fame inductees in 1990.

Soulsby's Shell Station Mount Olive, Illinois 1926 - 1990s For more information and photographs visit the Mount Olive page.

One of the early restoration projects along Route 66 in Illinois, the Standard Oil Station at the south end of Odell shines as one of the most beautiful landmarks along the Mother Road. In operation for decades in this busy Livingston County community, the Route 66 Association of Illinois helped rehab the site in the early 2000s and a welcome center now greets travelers with the history of this classic service station as well as the village of Odell. Computer analysis was used to match the new paint job exactly to the old Standard colors and allow the modern-day traveler to travel back in time to an era when traffic on this two-lane stretch of Route 66 was so busy the town had to build a pedestrian tunnel underneath the road.

Standard Oil Station Odell, Illinois 1932 - 1960s For more information and photographs visit the Odell page.

Once the last chance to fill up the Family Truckster before crossing the Mississippi, the relics of the Twin Oaks Gas For Less service station sit on the south side of Chain of Rocks Road on the approach to the Chain of Rocks Bridge. Newer stations dot the intersection with Illinois 3 just to the east of this classic sign.

Twin Oaks Gas Station Mitchell, Illinois 19?? - 19??s For more information and photographs visit the Chain of Rocks page.

Only the sign remains from this service station that sat on the east side of old two-lane Route 66 in Litchfield. Before "Vic" Suhling shilled his gasoline from the site the property was the first home to the historic Ariston Cafe which later moved across the street to its current location. The retro sign is easily visable from the intersection of Historic Route 66 and Illinois 16.

Vic Suhling Gas For Less Litchfield, Illinois 19?? - 19??s For more information and photographs visit the Litchfield page.