Illinois Route 66 Maps

About Illinois
Nickname:	Prairie State
State Bird:	Cardinal
State Flower:	Purple Violet
Capital:	Springfield
Miles of US 66:	280

Route 66 in Illinois followed roughly the same path as present-day Interstate 55, linking the major cities of Chicago and Saint Louis.

General

Part of Route 66 made use of a pre-existing road, highway 4, which was a major Illinois artery at the time Route 66 was established in 1926. Parts of that alignment are still brick-paved. You can access part of this older alignment south of the city of Springfield.

Pontiac, Illinois has recently (2004) become the new home of the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame, formerly housed at the Dixie Truckers Home in McLean.

Below is a portion of a 1956 map showing Route 66 as it passed through Illinois. You can also view the full version in PDF format for increased detail.

City Maps

Detail maps of select Illinois cities are shown below.

Springfield

The map shown at right is dated 1957. It can also be viewed in PDF format for greater detail. At that time, there were two separate alignments of Route 66 entering the city. The primary 66 alignment by this time already bypassed the city's center, entering the northeast quadrant of the city via 31st St/Belt Line. It continued south on Belt Line until approaching Lake Springfield, at which point it made a ninety-degree right turn onto Linn St, where it eventually joined up with the "city" alignment.

The "city 66" alignment entered the city limits from the north on Peoria Road. Peoria became Ninth Street downtown, and after passing through the downtown business district, Route 66 made a right turn at Grand Avenue, went three blocks west, and then turned south on Sixth Street. A little further to the south it rejoined the other alignment at the community of Southern View.

View the zoomable PDF version here.