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1942 State Police Headquarters

15551 Old Route 66, Pontiac, IL
Phone:

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The 1942 to 2003 Illinois State Police HQ is on IL-4 just 1.7 miles S of Hwy. 116 in Pontiac. That puts it on the then new 1940s four lane alignment of Route 66 that bypassed downtown Pontiac thus providing much easier access to the highway.

GPS: 40.851162, -88.655472

The building is basically an "L" shaped structure with a curved glass block wall at the entrance on the northeast corner. Apparently from a birds-eye view the buildings shape resembles Derringer pistol. The building was added to the National Registry of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2007.

A Interpretive Sculpture of a State Police patrolman on a motorcycle has been added. It stands immediately adjacent to the abandoned southbound lanes of the old four lane road.

The motorcycle silhouette is accompanied by a Wayside Exhibit titled "The Motor Police: Patrolling Route 66" that tells us that the State Police were formed in 1922 using surplus WWI Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Radio communication equipment came along in the 1930s and by 1949 motorcycles were completely replaced by patrol cars. The

There is another Wayside Exhibit, this one title "Protecting Travelers: State Police headquarters". It is closer to the main entrance that talks about the building and its Art Moderne style. It also mentions that by the 1940s Route 66 carried more traffic than any other state highway.

Photo(s): 2015