Route 66 Park

SW Arch St. at Race St., Atlanta, IL.
Phone:

East < GO > West

Atlanta is making a real effort to keep Route 66 alive, this little park is just one example of the efforts. The town is full of historic landmarks that are still standing but like towns everywhere some have been lost to time. Bits and pieces of some of those lost local landmarks have been saved and placed on display in the little park.

This mural, "Atlanta - Midway on Illinois' Mother Road", appears on the wall of a building next to the park. It was designed by Bill Diaz and painted on several large metal panels that were framed together and and mounted on this wall.

One of the several historic markers in the park that add interest to a visit is this drinking fountain, one of four which were placed around town in 1934.

The town of Atlanta sponsored a (IL) Route 66 Reinterpretive art contest and some of the winners works were on display on the park wall along Arch St. when we were there in 2015.

A "Wheels of Fortune on 66: Business Followed the Highway" Wayside Exhibit is on display in the park. Focused on the Palms Grill Cafe and the long gone Deep Rock Station it tells a bit of the history of the impact of the Mother Road and its realignments around the town.

Photo(s): 2012