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| Braidwood (5 miles) |
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Wilmington, IL |
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Northbound -> |
Elwood (8 miles) |
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Wilmington is the last (traveling northbound) of the small towns between Chicago and Saint Louis, residing just a few miles downstate of Joliet. As far south as Gardner, where the old road pulls away from the interstate, you can feel the rural sensibilities of the central portion of the state start to slip away as the frontage allows for less farmland and more urban development - and even a nuclear power plant. But Wilmington still has some of that small town charm that the Chicagoland area can't hope to possess.
The town's most famous contribution to the Mother Road lies towards the north end of town: the Launching Pad Drive-In. Opened in 1960, the restaurant became famous not only for its food and treats but also the friendly welcome from the spaceman outside: the Gemini Giant, one of the many "Muffler Men" 
found along the roadside (like Tall Paul in Atlanta), watches over Route 66 from the south side of the property,all the while holding onto his rocket ship that harkens back to the days when space travel was still a rather new and fascinating idea. Traveling from the north, the Gemini Giant is one of the first major unique landmarks reached by the Route 66 adventurer and his shiny frame is a welcome sight to many along the road.
Though the Launching Pad changed ownership in 2007, the new regime has promised to keep the business functioning just as it has for the past few decades. It isn't a surprising 
development for this town that is known to be very appreciative of its history along the Mother Road and very accomodating to Route 66 travelers.
Along with the Launching Pad, Wilmington has several other roadside attractions, including the Mar Theatre (dating back to 1937; still open to this day) and the Eagle Hotel, which was built in 1836 next to what would later become Route 66 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Efforts have been underway for some time to restore the hotel to its former glory and re-open the business, giving Route 66 tourists yet another wonderful landmark to stop at in the tremendous Joliet-to-Bloomington corridor. No progress has been made, though, and the structure sits in disrepair along Route 66 right in the heart of downtown Wilmington.
The original two-lane alignment follows Baltimore Street through town (along Illinois 53) and over the Kankakee River. A mile or so north of the city the alignment turns into a four-lane, and you can tell which two lanes were the original two that Route 66 used: the western southbound lanes follow the lay of the land, arching and dipping with the landscape. The eastern northbound lanes, however, have been straightened out and lie rather flat, a testament to the advanced road building methods use to construct this later addition to the highway.
While Alternate Route 66 was four-lane up to this point just north of Wilmington, the four-lane bypass skipped the city, instead following the path of modern day I-55. The two corridors rejoin at Gardner.
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<- Southbound |
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Northbound -> |
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Wilmington, IL |
Elwood |
5 miles |
8 miles |
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County: Will, IL
The town's most famous contribution to the Mother Road lies towards the north end of town: the Launching Pad Drive-In. Opened in 1960, the restaurant became famous not only for its food and treats but also the friendly welcome from the spaceman outside: the Gemini Giant, one of the many "Muffler Men" 
found along the roadside (like Tall Paul in Atlanta), watches over Route 66 from the south side of the property,all the while holding onto his rocket ship that harkens back to the days when space travel was still a rather new and fascinating idea. Traveling from the north, the Gemini Giant is one of the first major unique landmarks reached by the Route 66 adventurer and his shiny frame is a welcome sight to many along the road.
development for this town that is known to be very appreciative of its history along the Mother Road and very accomodating to Route 66 travelers.
The original two-lane alignment follows Baltimore Street through town (along Illinois 53) and over the Kankakee River. A mile or so north of the city the alignment turns into a four-lane, and you can tell which two lanes were the original two that Route 66 used: the western southbound lanes follow the lay of the land, arching and dipping with the landscape. The eastern northbound lanes, however, have been straightened out and lie rather flat, a testament to the advanced road building methods use to construct this later addition to the highway.
