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County: Montgomery,IL
The village of Waggoner is a small, agriculture based community about a mile west of the Mother Road in Montgomery County, and while small and unremarkable on the whole the village lies just north of one of the state's most recognizable Route 66 landmarks.
Since 1959, the Shrine of Our Lady of the Highways has guided motorists along her road - the Mother Road - and to this day helps travelers along the busy interstate. Members of the Litchfield Deanery's Catholic Youth Council sought to honor the 100th anniversary of the appearance of Mary at Lourdes by erecting a statue. Francis Marten, the father of group member Loretta Marten, offered a strip of land on their farm outside of Waggoner, and in February of 1959 ground was broken on the Montgomery County landmark. A statue made of cararra marble was imported at a cost of $400, and the youth group worked over the summer to construct the brick and wood structure that play home to Mary.
Finally, in late October 1959, the Shrine was dedicated with over three-hundred people in attendance at the ceremony. Over the following years and decades, church groups made weekend pilgrimages to the monument and everyday travelers on America's Main Street pulled off to say a prayer or just bask in the simple glory of this private, homegrown monument available to bring a little peace to the hectic crazyness of the highway. Eventually the words of the Hail Mary would be posted along the electric poles on the edge of the Marten property, allowing southbound motorists to say a prayer as they sped towards Saint Louis and places beyond.
Francis Marten and the Shrine were inducted into the Route 66 Association of Illinois in their inaugural class in 1991. Marten took care of the Shrine for over four decades until his passing in 2002, and today his family carries on that tradition, keeping alive the landmark that has been featured in numerous videos and publications and that countless Route 66 tourists stop to take in each year. With the 50th anniversary of its founding approaching, the family plans to hold several ceremonies - secular/historic and religious - during the year to commemorate the decades that Mother Mary and her shrine have helped guide millions along a road so deadly as to be nicknamed Bloody 66.
The original two-lane route follows 3rd Road directly north-south through the Panhandle region of Montgomery County about four miles west of Waggoner. Later the four-lane followed this path exactly, and the remaining pavement is the remnant of the southbound lanes (with the former northbound lanes sitting between the frontage road and the interstate. Remnants of early pavement, possibly the original two-lane, are visable around the Shrine of Our Lady of the Highways; this stretch was used as a frontage road/rest area for Route 66 during the four-lane era.
Access to the village of Waggoner from Route 66 is via Waggoner Road.
