Historic Brick Road (route 66), Illinois, United States
5.0 (4 reviews) Spent Ranking #1 in Auburn Historic Sites • Historic Walking Areas
Finally, a piece of the authentic road
I’ve read quite a bit about the original alignments and pavements of old State Highway 4 in Illinois and the transformation into National Highway Route 66, but it is rare that you see original bridges and pieces of the road throughout the Illinois sections of Route 66. Taken over by the Interstate system and often relegated to simply a marked historic service road of those vast highways, it becomes a ribbon broken into hundreds of small pieces on its quest from Chicago to Santa Monica. The Illinois pieces of Route 66 take about 3 days to do them respectfully depending on the time of year and venue hours.and this certainly is one of the most historic pieces in Illinois and the entire western United States. We were happy to have experienced this fading relic with the hope that private and public energy keeps this slice of Americana alive. It’s easy to find and a quick trip off the big roads.
Address
Snell At S Curran Road, Auburn, IL 62615
Website
http://www.enjoyillinois.com/explore/listing/original-brick-road
Current local date and time now
Sunday, May 12, 2024, 23:18
User Ratings
5.0 based on (4 reviews)
Reviews
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5Rhodes1104 5:00 PM Sep 26, 2021
Detour Visit!
A 1.4 mile brick road part of the original Route 66. Not much to do here besides drive the road and take a picture. Still worth the 15 minute detour off the freeway. Something very cool about driving the Route 66 Bricks!
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5Taylor B 5:00 PM Jun 7, 2022
Get your kicks on old Route 66
To reach the portion of historic U.S. Route 66 known as Historic Brick Road near Auburn, Illinois, travel south on State Route 4 from Chatham to Snell Road and turn west. It is located between Chatham and Auburn on Snell and Curran Roads before rejoining State Route 4. The 1.4-mile long stretch of restored hand-laid brick road is a segment of U.S. Route 66 done in 1931 and placed over a concrete roadbed. Remember Route 66? Often called the "Mother Road" or "Main Street of America," it was established in 1926. The paved highway covered 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. It was officially decommissioned in 1985, a victim of the Interstate Highway System. In its time, this 1.4-mile segment served part of Route 66 until 1930 when realignment of Route 66 south of Springfield rerouted traffic to the less populated eastern side through Litchfield to speed up the flow of traffic by avoiding as many towns as possible. After 1930, this section briefly reverted to its State Route 4 designation before being abandoned in a 1932 relocation of the State road. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is only a short detour off I-55 but driving the road and taking a photograph is worth the trip.
