County: Livingston, IL Population: 1014 Two-Lane: 1926-1944 Four-Lane: 1944-1977 Landmarks: 1932 Standard Oil Station on south border of town, one of the finest restoration projects on Route 66. Pedestrian walkway under two-lane Route 66 allowed children to reach school without encountering traffic.

Odell lies in the heart of one the best stretches of Route 66, the Joliet-to-Bloomington run (the "Red Carpet Corridor") that offers more treasures for the traveler than perhaps any other in the state. About ten minutes north of the Route 66 Hall of Fame in Pontiac, the four-lane bypass skirts the west edge of town offering only a scant view of the village of just over a thousand residents, but modern day Mother Road trekers know to take the two-lane into town and truly experience this rural Illinois treat.

The first stop on the south side of town is the 1932 Standard Oil Station, restored in 2002 to the condition of its heyday when Route 66 was lined with service stations all through town. Starting as a Sinclair station, it later switched to Phillips 66. Business was eventually lost as the four lane bypass was built, and it ceased pumping gas in the late 1960s. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, and in 1999 it was purchased by the city and restored by the Route 66 Association ofIllinois; paint sampling was done by computer to bring the building's color as close to the original look as possible. You can stop in for a brief tour throughout the year to learn more interesting facts about this Route 66 landmark.

A block or so to the north on the two-lane is St. Paul's Catholic Church, built on the other side of the highway from the rest of the town. The city constructed a pedestrian walkway under Route 66 to allow residents to safely pass from the east side of the road to the church and school, later filled in after the bypass negated its purpose. In 2006 the east side stairwell into the subway was unearthed and travelers can stop and be transported to the day when traffic was non-stop on this historic stretch of pavement.


The original two-lane route follows West Street through the town, a mostly straight trip with a slight jump to the east at Prairie Street to the north of town. The four-lane bypass separates from the original two-lane corridor just to the south of town, curving to the west and just brushing against the far west border of the community. The two rejoin north of town along the railroad tracks to the east.

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