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As I was out on the road in late May/early June, I stopped in at the Antique Toy Museum in Stanton Missouri on old Route 66. The proprietor informed me that he has decided to retire at the end of the current 2008 season. Although there is always a chance that he may change his mind, he seemed quite determined when I spoke with him. His children seem to have no interest in operating the Museum, so it is likely that this will be the last year that anyone can visit this marvelous place.

The museum contains a collection of 20^th century toys worth an estimated $500,000. As the slogan of the Museum states, “If you were ever a kid, you’ll love the Antique Toy Museum.” If you are a member of the baby boomer generation, this Museum has virtually every toy you had as a child, or wished you had.

So, I would highly recommend that anyone traveling along 66 through Missouri should make a point of stopping in. It might be your last opportunity.

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This post has two purposes. One, to inform all who care that the Upcoming Events page (link to the right) has been updated. I have added a few more dates for June library presentations of the Historic Route 66 PowerPoint slide show and lecture. Also added is the current schedule of events for July.

The schedule is daunting, since I am also looking for a permanent income stream (a.k.a. job) and going to school. So, I have asked a friend to become our Windy City Road Warrior Roving Correspondent. His first photos from the road are on our flickr sight at this link:

Collection: Roving Correspondent

So, I hope you enjoy the photos and stories of our Roving Correspondent for the next few weeks. Everybody please have a happy and safe Memorial Day holiday weekend!

Regards,

Dave Clark, your Windy City Road Warrior

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Last month, while I was neglecting my blog, I was busy working on a nomination submission to have Frank T. Sheets inducted into the Route 66 Association of Illinois’ Hall of Fame.

While Mr. Sheets is not a household name, it is my view that his contributions to the Illinois section of 66 make him worthy of being called the “Father of Route 66 in Illinois.” I guess I made a good case, because this weekend the Hall of Fame committee voted in favor of Mr. Sheets’ induction. I appreciate the committee’s due diligence and careful consideration that let to this positive outcome.So, who is Frank Sheets? I have the full nominating materials that I submitted available for viewing or download here (warning, the file is 1.5 megabytes and may take a while to open or download). Below are some bullet points about Mr. Sheets:

• Frank T. Sheets headed the Illinois Division of Highways from 1920-1932. During his tenure, the state came from “out of the mud” to break the record four times for miles paved in a year by any state. The Division’s work under his command included the completion of hard surface pavement on all of Illinois State Bond Issue (SBI) Route 4 between Chicago and the McKinley Bridge (over the Mississippi River into St. Louis) by the end of 1926. When U.S. 66 was commissioned and routed along SBI 4, Illinois could boast of being the only state with hard roads along the entire length of its share of the highway.
• Mr. Sheets also served as President of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) and a member of its “Committee of Five” that created the original U.S. Highway map and numbering system. He fought against the regional interests that wanted the highway connecting Los Angeles and St. Louis to continue east through Kentucky and Virginia. He and his fellow committee members won the battle for a “single-numbered highway” connecting Chicago to Los Angeles, and thus they created the highway we now “preserve and promote.”
• From 1927-1932, the Division of Highways under Mr. Sheets continued to improve Route 66 with wider pavements, grade separations, and the change in routing that brought such beloved towns as Litchfield and Hamel into the Route 66 community.

For these reasons, I thought that Frank T. Sheets belonged in the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame. He was in charge of building, maintaining, and improving the highway, and he was instrumental in its designation as U.S. Highway 66. I believe he truly is the Father of Route 66 in Illinois. I am glad the Hall of Fame committee agreed as to his worthiness for induction.

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Real life has gotten in the way of my posting activities in the last few weeks, so I just wanted to make a quick entry here to catch up on a few recent items.

• As stated in a previous post, I gave a presentation on Historic Route 66 at the Park Ridge, Illinois Library on February 26, 2008. There was a snowstorm the previous day, and the night of the 26th was extremely cold, but nonetheless an overflow crowd showed up to see the presentation. It’s great to see so many folks with an interest in 66–so much so that they brave nasty weather in order to take a virtual tour on the Mother Road. My thanks again to the staff at the Park Ridge Library for hosting the event and helping to make the evening a success.
• In February, I spent a large chunk of time preparing a nomination for the Route 66 Association Hall of Fame. Each year, nominations are sent to the Hall of Fame committee for people, businesses, or structures that “have made significant contributions to the character or history of the Illinois portion of Route 66 while it was an official United States highway in the State (1927-1977),” (quoting from the Association’s bylaws). The person I nominated was Frank T. Sheets, who was in charge of the Illinois Division of Highways from 1920-1932. In 1926, when State Bond Issue (SBI) Route 4 was designated as U.S. 66, Illinois was the only state that could boast of having its entire piece of the highway completely paved with a hard surface. Frank Sheets was the guy in charge of making that happen. Later today, I will post up the full text of my nomination. Yesterday, I received a call from Marilyn Pritchard, Hall of Fame Museum Curator, and she told me that Frank Sheets had indeed been inducted into the Hall of Fame by the committee. This is great news, since, in my opinion, Mr. Sheets was truly the Father of Route 66 in Illinois. So check back a little later to read more about Mr. Sheets.
• On Saturday, after a long, bitter winter, I gave my first walking tour of 2008. An Irish family from Toronto was in town for St. Patrick’s Day. They had never been to Chicago before and had little foreknowledge of Route 66, so I gave them a good orientation to the city and the highway. It was 40 degrees and a bit breezy, but as always we explored inside of buildings as well as outside, so we were never far from places to warm up. So, to anyone out there–if you come to Chicago, I am available to give you a tour that will be enjoyable even if the weather isn’t!

I’ll be working on my next quarterly newsletter in the next few days–I have several more library presentations coming up in April and May, as well as other announcements. Stay tuned!

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On Thursday night, January 10th, I had the pleasure to present a short talk and slide show about Route 66 to the volunteer docents of the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Ever since I moved to Chicago over 25 years ago, I have learned more about the city and its famous buildings through the programs of this fine organization than from any other resource. They offer the very best walking tours of Chicago’s Loop and neighborhoods, emphasizing the built environment yet always providing contextual background of the people and history involved.

The tours are led by volunteer docents who receive extensive training. The program is so popular that there is often a waiting list of people who would like to become volunteer docents!

The CAF also offers exhibits in the atrium lobby of the Santa Fe building, located at the northwest corner of Jackson Boulevard and Michigan Avenue (the intersection that was the original starting point of Route 66 and a crossroads for such famous highways as the Yellowstone Trail, the Dixie Highway, the Pontiac Trail, and U.S. 12, 14, 20, 32, 34, 41, and 54). Their store at the same location offers the best selection of architecture related items and books on Chicago.

I encourage anyone coming to Chicago to take one of MY tours, but to take as many tours with the CAF as you can as well!

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The recent snow melt and rain is causing flood conditions in central Illinois along the Kankakee and Vermilion rivers. The Route 66 town of Pontiac is affected by the flooding on the Vermilion, although it seems that most of the damage is on the east side of town. I just got off the phone with Jim Jones at the Route 66 Hall of Fame Museum, and he said that the Museum and downtown Pontiac are not affected. Livingston County has been declared a state disaster area, and unfortunately some light rain is expected later today.