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The National Road In Illinois


mobilene
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I have finally completed my writeup of my Illinois National Road trip, which was July 7th. I say finally because I've worked steadily on it in all my free time for the past nine days. It is the longest trip report I've ever written. There was so much to see! The highlights:

 

- About 30 miles of the 1920s road, which was mostly brick. Most of it was visible from US 40, and a little of it driveable.

- The covered bridge west of Greenup

- The towns along the National Road and their buildings dating back as far as 1870

- The incredibly well-maintained residential district along the Road in eastern Casey

- The crazy striping on a section of the old road west of Effingham

 

Read all about it here: http://www.jimgrey.net/Roads/NationalRoadIllinois/

 

Oh, and one little anecdote I forgot to put in the writeup, but I'm sure I'll eventually add -- At the bridge in Greenup, a fellow noticed my Rose-Hulman T-shirt and said, "Oh, are you a Rose student?" I chuckled and replied, "20 years ago, but thank you very much for asking!"

 

Many thanks to all of you here for your encouragement and for the tips to many resources that led us to see things we might not have noticed or appreciated otherwise! Special thanks to KTSOTR for permission to use scans from his road guides, which added something special to the writeup.

 

Peace,

jim

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Well, Jim, it is a masterwork! Well worth waiting for. My only complaint is that it sets a standard I can’t meet! I have read the first four sections, and like a good book, I am savoring each page. Exceptional work, with clarity, humor, and tons of great descriptions. The photos are as near perfect as it gets.

 

BTW, I have the 1914 and 1915 Good Roads annuals at home which describe the various methods of road construction in those years. They might shed light on brick with curbs

 

My day was fun, with a few old alignments and some high desert roadside artifacts. My son and I spent time this evening reflecting on a visit to one of the sites with my father about 30 years ago. He remembered the site, and until he described it, I had forgotten about it.

 

Posts will have to wait as I need to get some sleep for the drive tomorrow. BTW Lincoln Town cars do not turn around congenially on one lane dirt roads. Luckily I had an assistant to guide me. It is very comfortable rental, but not an off roader! Dah!

 

Keep the Show on the Road! (KTSOTR)

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Thanks, guys. I love to research, explore, and write, and as I travel the old roads I can do all three!

 

I mentioned in my writeup a friend who told me he used to see the brick road as he drove to work in Marshall every day. He was kind of upset that I didn't include him on this trip! He wants me to take him along on this trip this fall after the leaves are off the trees so we can see more. You've gotta admit, even though the photos are prettier when everything's green, the leaves do obscure things.

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Thanks, guys. I love to research, explore, and write, and as I travel the old roads I can do all three!

 

I mentioned in my writeup a friend who told me he used to see the brick road as he drove to work in Marshall every day. He was kind of upset that I didn't include him on this trip! He wants me to take him along on this trip this fall after the leaves are off the trees so we can see more. You've gotta admit, even though the photos are prettier when everything's green, the leaves do obscure things.

 

Jim,

 

I just got to the motel at about 9:30 PM so I only got to read Martinsville and Casey. Both look charming and the material was great.

 

I didn't know you were a expert on type faces!

 

I'll get back to the post tomorrow and I'll try to toss up some US 20 stuff from today in the morning. I nailed a few old alignments and some neat roadside artifacts. And I saw some wide open spaces where towns are over 100 miles apart.

 

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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Superb. I enjoy doing just about everything you do - just not to the same extent or as thoroughly. Your attention to detail involving on line, on site, and on paper sources is wonderful. The fact that I only occasionally look at something with anywhere near that detail won't keep me from enjoying picking up on some of those brick segments when I'm next in Illinois.

 

One minor point, the date on the plaque at the Madonna is 1928 rather than 1926. I checked a photo I have of the plaque to be sure. All of the Madonnas were placed between July of 1928 and April of 1929.

 

Great job. Thanks.

P.S.,

 

Just a couple of blocks west and of the Madonna (on 6th) is the Depot. I've only eaten there once but enjoyed it. Even though it looks a little fancy, the prices are very reasonable. The owner keeps (or did in May) XM's Bluesville playing; A fact that I appreciated much more than my waiter.

 

Near the expressway (about a mile from downtown) is Jay's restaurant & motel. Despite the fact that there is a bar in the back of the restaurant, this seems to be the local "family" spot where every one eats breakfast and many eat lunch & dinner. Nothing fancy but good, priced right, and friendly. The motel is a good choice, too. Clean and well maintained with everything you need (fridge, micro, wifi) for not much money.

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An amazing report Jim...

 

I feel like I am along for the ride with you except I did not have to help get the car unstuck. Thanks for all the research and information you pour into your travel.

 

I have been reading a section or two each day as to stretch out the enjoyment over a longer period of time.

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Jim,

Is there a problem with your site? I went to read a few more pages today, and suddenly I started getting a message that www.jimgrey.net is not responding.

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My host appears to have been having intermittent problems over the past couple weeks. If you find the site not responding, just try again later. If this keeps up, I suppose I'll need to find a new host.

 

Jim,

 

That was what I surmised, and now I just got back in. Ain't this technology great! Of course, I could not live without it anymore...

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I've been hooked on the Web since I saw my first Web site in 1994. This is when there were hundreds of Web sites. Hundreds!

 

It's about as reliable now as it was then!

 

I started on computers in 1992 or 1993 when I worked at the Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, NH. Web site - what's a web site??? Even better, at the time, was "Computer!!! What's a computer???" Somehow the thing wound up on MY desk and I suddenly became the office "expert" (definition: I figured out how to turn it on!!") on the thing.

Now I got a few more web sites than I should have. I was using MSN groups, but recently started moving everything over to a web site at www.freewebs.com. You can use a free site - or pay a small fee for more options. I havn't gone that route yet - but may in the future once my finances stabalize.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr"

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I started with a 128 K Macintosh when they first came out, when my employer did not think we should have computers in our offices...it kept us from being on the road making sales. I ended up showing a few corporate officials how they could help calculate pricing and return much faster than the old methods, and it was saving time. Then, as a thank you corporate decided we all needed office PC's, and I could no longer use my 4 Macs because they bought PC's.

 

But it was a long time till I had to add a modem and go on line, and for quite awhile, I just used the modem to get into the corporate system when I needed to upload or down load files. Now it is cable modem, never off, hundreds of bookmarked sites, and keeping my own family page as well as being webmaster for our men's chorus. I spend more time on line now that I am retired than I ever did when I was working...

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I've only just glanced at your excellent report and look forward to completing it, as IL 40 is one of our favorite highways. Things/places we especially enjoy on the old and older alignments include:

 

Sunset Inn - between Troy and St. Jacob - Awesome old saloon

Near Pierron to Pocahontas on the "through the fields" alignment

Greenville to Mulberry Grove on 140 and then Mulberry Grove to Vandalia through Hagarstown

Downtown St. Elmo - old theater marquee and a few ghost signs

Downtown Altamont

Greenup covered bridge, archetecture, and shoe factory flea market

Old alignment east of Martinsville

Covered bridge at Clark Center

Downtown Marshall

 

Pat and Denny, STL to Terre Haute or vice versa would make an excellent spring cruise, wouldn't it? Perhaps you guys could put something together like this year's Dixie Cruise....Bliss

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I started with a 128 K Macintosh when they first came out, when my employer did not think we should have computers in our offices...it kept us from being on the road making sales.

 

I started on a Commodore PET and then taught myself BASIC on a...gulp... Sinclair ZX-81. I used my first serious computer, an original Mac, in 1984 and later used Macintosh IIs with 21 inch greyscale monitors in my first professional job 18 years ago. I was also the system administrator for our AppleTalk network of Macs and PCs. I've written assembly code on the 8-bit DEC PDP 11/70, got my first ever e-mail account on a DEC VAX, grudgingly used CICS on IBM mainframes running Z/OS, spent a summer working on a dedicated Wang word processing system, slogged UNIX commands, learned a little C, and used emacs as my editor, e-mail client, and newsreader (and through it got my first Internet access in 1990 or 1991), and have used a slew of Windows PCs starting with Windows 3.1. And I'm sure I've overlooked an old system or two in there.

 

I was wired before anybody ever heard the term!

 

jim

 

 

Greenup covered bridge, archetecture, and shoe factory flea market

<...>

Pat and Denny, STL to Terre Haute or vice versa would make an excellent spring cruise, wouldn't it? Perhaps you guys could put something together like this year's Dixie Cruise....Bliss

 

The bridge west of Greenup is really something else, isn't it? It's built like a tank, and sure adds some character to the area. The concrete bridge that used to be there was just ugly.

 

I'd enjoy an Illinois US 40 jaunt, esp. if we kept to the old alignments. If Terre Haute is an endpoint, it's fun to drive the original alignment of US 41, too, and see downtown at the old crossroads as well as 12 Points, where three roads intersect creating 12 corners. It was kind of a downtown of its own in days gone by, and it has slowly been undergoing restoration over the past 10-15 years.

 

jim

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I was wired before anybody ever heard the term!

Wire?? You had wire!?!? When I got into computers we had to use wet string to build circuits and, before punched cards were perfected, we had to cut little holes in parchment scrolls with flint knives. We'd have killed for wire. :D

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Wire?? You had wire!?!? When I got into computers we had to use wet string to build circuits and, before punched cards were perfected, we had to cut little holes in parchment scrolls with flint knives. We'd have killed for wire. :D

 

Wow, that is old Denny! I had not realized until now that you joined this forum May 17, 1903. ;)

But I remember using those darn punched cards back in college...submit your deck of cards and then wait several hours for a printout that let you know that your Fortran or Cobol program never even compiled, then sort through your cards to see if any were out of order, missing, or had an error. Boy, I sure don't miss that.

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Wire?? You had wire!?!? When I got into computers we had to use wet string to build circuits and, before punched cards were perfected, we had to cut little holes in parchment scrolls with flint knives. We'd have killed for wire. :D

 

I'd love to have seen you debugging programs written on punched parchment! I'll bet you had to be mighty skilled to get the holes uniform so the reader could deal with them. jim

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I'd love to have seen you debugging programs written on punched parchment! I'll bet you had to be mighty skilled to get the holes uniform so the reader could deal with them. jim

 

Mobilene,

 

What with trying to get up several posts, I hadn’t gotten back to your masterful, oft praised, and generally impressive National Road trip. I just did. I just read 07 Greenup. I want to go there!

 

I wish you had been able to get into the soda fountain. In addition to my days as a gas jocky, I was also a “soda jerk” while in high school. (I guess I did most of the stereotypical 1950’s kid’s jobs, as I also delivered newspapers on my bike and worked in a 5 and dime.) That Candy Kitchen looks like an old drug store.

 

You are doing a great job with the photos, too. The vinyl guy is a kick. If England is a country of shopkeepers, America is the land of the roadside vendor!

 

I’ll read more soon!

 

BTW if you guys keep “bragging” about your computer memories, I’m going to wade in with my days programming and selling IBM 1401’s and wiring 407’s in the San Francisco Bay area 45 years ago. You guys couldn’t wire a 402 control panel if I gave you the wires! :unsure::D

 

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

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My friend, if I ever come across a 402 control panel that needs wiring, why, now I know who to call!

 

When I was a kid in the 70s and early 80s, a five-and-dime store was still operating within a reasonable bike ride of my house, and it had a stainless steel soda fountain on it. It was a Bastian Blessing, I'll never forget. They could make you a Coke by squirting syrup into the glass and shooting carbonated water into it. My brother used to order double-strength root beers there. My favorite was their chocolate malt, and they did not skimp on the malt. The owner was ancient when he finally wanted to retire, but he couldn't find a buyer to continue the business. He closed the store and auctioned the whole thing off. This was probably in the early 90s.

 

Many thanks for the compliments on my trip writeup. It is gratifying when others read and enjoy them. Makes me want to do more of them.

 

Peace,

jim

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If you keep doing reports as great as this one, you are certain to get more praise!

 

Yep, we bought the syrup in gallon jugs and poured it into the rectangular stainless steel containers behind the counter into which fit the pumps, with the round white porcelain caps with the names in black...like Coke, Cherry, Pineapple, Lime, etc.

 

I got paid 75 cents an hour and gave my buddies that much in extra syrup when they came in. The fountain was part of the drug store, all along the east wall. This was in about 1956. Now the building houses a Starbucks. Quite fitting!

 

I have to tell a story. A fellow came in one day and we got into a discussion over the counter while he had a soda or something. He and I both ran track, and he kind of allowed me to brag up my running skills. I was sharing my secrets for running the 440 and he was "impressed." This went on for a while, until I realized he was Roger Bannister, world’s first 4 minute miler! Nice guy, and he had a little fun at my expense!

 

And, right, refer all your 402 panel wiring needs to me. Believe it or not those old machines were all relays, not even a tube in sight. For that matter, if you need some IBM 1620 Machine Language coding, I’m your man!

 

What’s the next road adventure?

 

Keep the Show on the Road

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I guess my later-day equivalent was working at a Dairy Queen for $3.35/hr in 1985. I really liked that job. I got really good at making the little curly-Q on the ice cream. I got to eat anything I wanted at a 50% discount. I was very into blueberry shakes that summer, with about 3x the blueberry syrup. 1985 was the year the Blizzard was introduced. They didn't have all the kinks ironed out of it yet -- I went home every night with Blizzard spatters on my uniform, and they never washed out. Next time you order a Blizzard, notice the stainless-steel collar they stick into the cup -- a late-summer addition to the production of those things that prevented future uniforms from being stained.

 

I'm waiting to see how the next few months unfold for me before I commit to another road trip. I put an offer on a house today, and the place will need a little work. So moving and doing the necessary fixups will consume some weekends.

 

I'm still hopeful my friend and I can reschedule US 31 for before the leaves fall. I hope to visit my friend in Hoboken and drive US 40 back and take a couple days to do it, hitting the highlights (I could probably spend a week doing it to my usual level) -- if I have the vacation time. The friend who told me about the brick National Road in IL in the first place wants to make the trip with me after the leaves fall this year -- a pretty smart man, for so many things become visible, such as any leftover bridge abutments, when the greenery doesn't block the view. It's all probably more than I can do this year, but I'll watch for opportunities.

 

Next year I'd like to drive the Lincoln across IN, and maybe take a slow trip across part of Ohio on US 40 and the National Road. I'm thinking Wheeling to Columbus because I want to find the spot where they buried US 40 under I-70 -- I found it by mistake about 15 years ago, and it scared the bejabbers out of me because I didn't know it was coming.

 

jim

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I just read sections 8 and 9. Jim, it’s OK to take pictures of bikers, even on our family site! Oh! Did you mean the scantily clad girls? Shucks!

 

The bridge shots are great, and your analysis of why the brick and cement sections of the road survived is fascinating. I bet you are right.

 

Thanks for the photo of you (and Dawn)! When I lose 40 pounds and 20 years I’ll do the same!

 

I also think you are right about the brick building. That section that sticks out is probably where the kids put their boots and hung their coats.

 

I’m enjoying every installment! I hope your new house doesn’t take up all your time. We need more of your goodies here!

 

Keep the Show on the Road

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Your comments on pavement (brick and concrete) along the road, and when it was done, prompted me to pull a few books.

 

Unless otherwise noted, the following citations are from the Automobile Blue Books for the year cited for the road between Terre Haute and St Louis via Vandalia.

 

In 1910 “Roads almost equally divided between clay, dirt, and sand, with short stretches of stone pike. Not advisable in bad weather

 

The 1911 Tour Book of the Automobile Club of America describes the road between Indianapolis and Terre Haute “all the way along National Highway, good gravel road,” However the road from Terre Haute to St Louis via Vandalia is described as simply “very bad.”

 

In 1913 the road is “Gravel a few miles after leaving Indiana, rest of the way mostly natural dirt roads, usually good during summer months.”

 

In 1920 it reads “First 17 miles gravel; balance dirt with a few short stretches of concrete. The greater part of the route, during the coming season, will be under construction

 

In 1921 the description reads “Approximately three-quarters of this route is hard surfaced; the balance will no doubt be closed in places for construction during this year

 

By 1925 it is cited as “Pavement.”

 

I might look for intervening years, but it appears that until about 1920 the road was clay, dirt, sand, and “natural.” By 1920 there is 17 miles of gravel, and the beginning of paving efforts. By 1921 the paving is well along (three-quarters done) and construction is still underway.

 

By 1925 it is paved.

 

BTW, did I send you the 1916 strip maps for that route from the TIB Automobile Route Book? If not, let me know and I will post them. The 1916 TIB confirms the bad condition of the road and recommends local inquiry. The 1920 TIB confirms “This road is being rebuilt.”

 

That's about all I know. Let's Keep the Show on the Road!

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That corroborates with what the historical signage at the Greenup bridge said: the route was paved in brick and concrete in the early 1920s.

 

I'm pretty sure you did post the 1916 TIB strip maps; didn't I put a snapshot of one of them in the writeup?

 

jim

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