// This is a machine generated transcript. Please report any transcription errors to will-help@illinois.edu.

[00:00:00]
Brian Mackey: From Illinois Public Media, this is the 21st Show. I'm Brian Mackey. Little road trip music to get us in the mood as we continue our journey along the 300 miles of Route 66 in Illinois, marking the centennial of America's most famous highway. And we begin today with the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington. That's where Mayla Harris is director of communications. Mayla, welcome to the 21st Show.

[00:00:43]
Mayla Harris: I'm so excited. Thanks for having me, Brian.

[00:00:45]
Brian Mackey: And listeners, you can join the conversation today at 800-222-9455 throughout the hour. Have you traveled on the mother road, as John Steinbeck coined it? What was the experience like? We wanna hear your Route 66 story. Again, 800-222-9455 is the number to join us live. 800-222-9455. All right, Mayla, beyond what will be self-evident to people from the name of the McLean County Museum of History, what is it all about?

[00:01:19]
Mayla Harris: So we are a nationally accredited history museum located in the heart of downtown Bloomington on historic Route 66. We are in a 1903 historic courthouse building with an iconic dome. It's a gorgeous building in and of itself, not to mention the museum. But we also have our Cruising with Lincoln on 66 Visitor Center and gift shop on the ground level when visitors enter. So that space welcomes visitors from around the world six days a week, Monday through Saturday. We have illuminated panels that share the connection between Abraham Lincoln and Route 66 as well as stories of dining and travel throughout time, and then of course locally curated merchandise and lots of good information for travelers and residents alike.

[00:02:07]
Brian Mackey: So let's go back in time. Tell me about — you know, as Route 66 turns 100 — what would Bloomington-Normal have been like when the highway was commissioned in 1926?

[00:02:21]
Mayla Harris: So the highway was officially commissioned on the federal level in 1926, and this legislation essentially provided funding to connect a bunch of roads that already existed. Some new [streets] of course were built, but all across the country you had little portions. So Main Street, that runs right through downtown Bloomington, was a part of the original Route 66 alignment. And at that time, believe it or not, we had an electric trolley car that ran through downtown Bloomington. But by 1926, the automobile had started to rise in popularity and streets and paths that people traveled started to look a little bit different.

You had the kind of the invention of the hard road in the 1920s as well, so what were previously essentially kind of gravel paths began to have cement laid on them and become a little bit more official with signage that made it easier for people to navigate, no matter what part of the country they were from. Prior to 1920, most people got around by, you know, a horse and buggy, some sort of wagon situation, on their feet, by train, or on a bicycle. There are some number estimates out there that in 1900, there were [8 or] 8,000 registered vehicles across the country. So in all of the United States, only 8,000 cars. By 1920, that number had jumped to 8 million. By 1940, that was 27 million, and by 1960, that was 61 million. So the rise of Route 66 is really paralleled with the rise in affordability of the automobile and the average American's ability to kind of hop on the road there.

[00:04:16]
Brian Mackey: Yeah, I love that you mentioned the streetcar, and I think we'll probably get into this a little more tomorrow. It's stunning when you look back in time — you know, people talk about, oh, imagine if we could have great rail travel today — how much you could get around central Illinois, not just within cities but between cities, by public transit back in the day.

[00:04:36]
Mayla Harris: Yeah, we used to have the interurban. You could hop on in Bloomington and get to Peoria or to Champaign. Today if you wanted to take public transit to Champaign, for example, you'd have to take a bus from Bloomington to Springfield and then over to Champaign. So, you know, I think there's often a fallacy that, you know, history — they were less technologically advanced or whatnot — but that's not always necessarily the case. Life just looked a little bit different.

[00:05:02]
Brian Mackey: So what happens with the interstate highway system in Bloomington-Normal and in greater McLean County to Route 66 and all this stuff that had been sort of built up along it?

[00:05:13]
Mayla Harris: Absolutely. So, you know, the interstate highway system began to replace Route 66 in 1976, and these are mundane infrastructure items. It's not — you know, we kind of idealize Route 66 now, but when this stuff was happening, it was not as much of — people weren't as actively aware and talking about these [changes]. So it took about 10 years. Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1984, and by that time, you know, I-55 — it was faster, it was safer, it accommodated more traffic. And so a lot of the small towns, specifically in McLean County — you know, [Chenoa], Lexington, Towanda — these are places whose economies and their literal towns were built around the people that passed through on Route 66.

So a lot of these small towns suffered, but I think part of what's really [remarkable] — you can realize in the Route 66 story — is that these towns are also resilient and they found other ways. You know, agriculture remains a central part of central Illinois life, and so that sustained a lot of these towns, but it definitely took traffic away. A lot of those small businesses that had popped up closed, and there's been a lot of effort in the last 20 or so years to kind of remember those places as a part of the Route 66 story.

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Brian Mackey: OK. I'm gonna take a moment here to reintroduce our conversation. [Mayla], I don't know if there's something like bumping into your microphone or something. I don't know if that's something you can address briefly while I — with our producers — while I just let people know this is the 21st Show. I'm Brian Mackey. We're speaking with Mayla Harris, who's director of communications at the McLean County Museum of History. And we're talking about the history of Route 66 in McLean County and Bloomington-Normal in particular as we continue our journey south. You can join us today — 800-222-9455 is the number. 800-222-9455. So, Mayla, what are some of the notable sites people can still check out along Route 66, specifically in McLean County?

[00:07:31]
Mayla Harris: Absolutely. So in [Chenoa], there are some wonderfully restored murals that really kind of speak to the history of Route 66 and some of the things that made that small town so lively. Lexington is really seeing a resurgence in small businesses. There are wonderful restaurants and businesses like the Lexington Social and Sirius Roasters Coffee. They've also put a lot of work into Memory Lane, so really creating an immersive experience for people to drive down an old section of Route 66. Similarly, in Towanda, they've done a lot of work to preserve their parkway. They've added a lot of trees.

Most people, of course, think of driving Route 66, but there are terrific bike trails on Route 66, so that's another fantastic way to experience Route 66 in some of these smaller communities along Route 66 in central Illinois. Of course, in Bloomington-Normal, we have a variety of stops including [Sprague] Super Service Station, which is now Ryburn's Gifts and Gabs. Terry Ryburn has done some tremendous work over the last two decades or so to restore this 1931 gas station that was built specifically in this Tudor architectural style to attract people as they're coming off the route, so they would stop at that gas station. And Terry is just a wealth of knowledge, so that is always a great stop for folks traveling Route 66.

Of course, you gotta stop by the Cruising with Lincoln on 66 Visitor Center and Gift Shop located on the ground level of the McLean County Museum of History in historic downtown Bloomington. We also have several terrific murals and local businesses to check out. Miller Park Zoo is just a little further down Route 66, and that is said to be the oldest zoo on Route 66. There's a great photo op there as well.

And then as you continue down you'll hit Shirley and Funks Grove. Funks Grove is an incredible nature area. It is one of the few preserved nature areas along Route 66. You can stop by to get your sirup and to walk the trail, see all kinds of beautiful wildlife. And then in McLean, there is the old depot building, which is really fun, as well as the Dixie Truck Stop. And then in their downtown, they have several really cool murals that have been added over the last couple of years, as well as Arcadia, which is lovably known as America's playable museum, so it has all kinds of vintage arcade games that you can play. So all across McLean County and all across Route 66, there are some really unique stops that give you a slice of American life and a good way to enjoy central Illinois.

[00:10:26]
Brian Mackey: Say a little more about Funks Grove. People who may not travel I-55 or be in that area may not be aware that Illinois does have a maple syrup industry. You know, we're not Vermont or Maine, but it exists.

[00:10:39]
Mayla Harris: It does, and they spell it with an "I," not a "Y." So you gotta stop by and get some of your Funks Grove maple sirup. That area was one of the first settled areas by European settlers in the early 1800s. The Funk family has done a fantastic job over the last 150 years of preserving the land, saving the trees and working with the land. So they tap those maple trees right there to create some really delicious maple sirup, and they have a whole line of products that kind of accompany that. So you can stop by the shop — they've got a lot of cute items and tasty items as well — but the shop itself is nestled within this nature preserve that is just gorgeous year-round. Of course, in the spring and fall in particular, but it's a wonderful little gem tucked along the route.

[00:11:33]
Brian Mackey: Today I learned — S-I-R-U-P — on their website says come back in March. What's the deal with that? Do you know the story as to why — is there some federal agricultural regulation, like the way at the state fair they have to call things milkshake, not ice cream?

[00:11:49]
Mayla Harris: Right, well, it's a little more natural than that. Maple trees don't produce year-round. They tap the trees in the early spring, I believe, and what they get is what they get.

[00:12:04]
Brian Mackey: I guess I meant the spelling of S-I-R-U-P.

[00:12:06]
Mayla Harris: The spelling — yeah, that's a great question that, no, I don't know the answer to, but we'll look [it up].

[00:12:13]
Brian Mackey: Well, you've given me something to go down a rabbit hole later on. To talk about — you know, we're coming to the end of our time — are there present-day legacies of Route 66? Because it's obviously been through ups and downs and people, you know, were devastated — they felt devastated in some ways when the interstate highways came in. I mean, there's an entire Disney film — or Pixar — about those cars. Talk about, you know, legacies of the highway that are still present, you know, be it through infrastructure or business development or culture or anything else.

[00:12:47]
Mayla Harris: Absolutely. The impact of Route 66 can be seen all throughout central Illinois. I think one thing that I always enjoy telling people in Bloomington specifically is most people — even if you're passing through Bloomington-Normal — you've driven on Veterans Parkway. And whether you realize it or not, that's part of Route 66. So in the '40s, Route 66 was expanded into what they called the Beltline, which is what we know as Veterans Parkway today, and all of those businesses — Eastland Mall, the Starbucks, the gas stations — everything that is along Veterans Parkway is there today because that was built as a part of Route 66. So Route 66 quite literally altered the landscape in which we inhabit, and that shapes our daily lives. Thousands of people travel on Veterans Parkway every day today. So even though it's maybe not blaringly obvious with big neon signs, Route 66 is still around.

There's been a lot of people that have put in a lot of work over the last 20 years to preserve its legacy, to highlight its legacy, and to create spaces for people to experience these things. We of course have some of those at the McLean County Museum of History within our Cruising with Lincoln on 66 Visitor Center and Gift Shop. [Sprague's] is another great place where you can kind of experience that. There's stops in Pontiac and Springfield all along the route. So I think part of the magic of Route 66 lies within the people that made it noteworthy and have continued to work to preserve it, and there are little pockets along the way that you can still kind of enjoy that.

We do offer — through the museum — a web-based mobile tour platform, so it's not an app that you have to download. You just type into your browser [MChoryt Tourrient — FLAG FOR REVIEW: URL unclear; possibly mchistory.touriont.app or similar] — which is spelled T-O-U-R-I-E-N-T dot app — and on there we have guided mobile tours. There's a tour for Route 66 in McLean County. You can go either north to south or south to north, and that highlights stops that are no longer there, stops that are there, and tells you about that history. And that is just one of many, many opportunities that people can engage with Route 66 today.

[00:15:03]
Brian Mackey: Less than 60 seconds left, and I'm gonna have to hold you to it. I understand you have traveled Route 66. What can you tell me briefly about your trip?

[00:15:10]
Mayla Harris: Oh God, in 60 seconds — that's a lot to stack in there. But after the pandemic, I took a road trip to visit some friends and eventually found myself in California and was able to take Route 66 back home in a way that I didn't expect. And I think that in and of itself can kind of sum it up — you never quite know what you're gonna find when you travel the mother road, and there's hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of people that can attest to that out there.

[00:15:44]
Brian Mackey: Yeah, west to east — interesting. All right. Mayla Harris is with the McLean County Museum of History. Mayla, thanks so much for sharing a little bit about McLean County and Route 66 today here on the 21st Show.

[00:15:59]
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.

[00:16:01]
Brian Mackey: More to come after a break. Stay with us.

[00:16:05]
Speaker 2: We're going to go —