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Dead Man's Curve & Pure Oil Truck Stop

Historic US 66 & Jackson St., Towanda, IL
Phone:

East < GO > West

Towanda's Dead Man's Curve is a short tight curve in the 1926 alignment of 66 of the 16 foot wide pavement. The name comes from the number of bad accidents arising from drivers going into the curve to fast.

Turn right from Old Route 66 onto Jefferson St. (County Road 29) and then turn west on Jackson St. (just past the gas station) and follow the curve unto Quincy St. and then back onto Route 66.

GPS: 40.567196, -88.901914

Looking towards Dead Mans Curve from the intersection of the 1926 and 1940s alignments.

This information sign tells the unhappy story that too many motorists experienced from the late 1920s through the mid-1950s.

There's a set of Burma Shave style signs that say:

Around the Curve
Lickety-Split
Beautiful Car
Wasn't It?
Burma Shave

The gas station at this intersection stands where the old Pure Oil truck stop stood for years.

Turn around and you can see this little remnant of the 1926 roadway that was cut off by the later alignment.

Photo(s): 2016, 2023