and Route 66 stuff,” he exclaims. At the bar, for example, the cut off trunk ends of three cars —a ‘55 Ford, ’56 Buick and a ’57 Chevy — are now topped with Coors and Miller Lite beer spigots. Motorcycles include a long handlebar replica of the bike driven by Peter Fonda in the movie Easy Rider, and an Abraham Lincoln tribute bike with large penny-like fixtures in the wheel spokes. The recently opened Route History Museum and Souvenir Shop offers a different perspective on the highway’s history. “We tell the untold story of Black travelers along Route 66,” says museum co-owner Stacy Grundy. “It was a very different experience for them, as it was also the time of Jim Crow.” Just a block off the original Route 66 and within the cinderblock walls of a former Texaco gas station from 1946, the museum showcases how Black travelers could only dine and overnight in particular establishments and in certain towns. Exhibits include a detailed look at the so-called Negro Motorist Green Book, a guide to restaurants, hotels and private homes open to African Americans along Route 66 and beyond. Route History now offers visitors a virtual experience by recreating how Green Book businesses helped four different travelers: a World War II veteran on a motorcycle, a Negro League Baseball player traveling in a bus, a blues singer with an entourage, and a family migrating from Mississippi to Chicago. “We’ve been able to do oral histories to get the stories of real people that lived during that time,” says Grundy.
Other Route 66 standouts in Springfield include the Cozy Dog Drive In, serving its original batter- coated and deep-fried hot dog on a stick since 1949. Mahan’s Filling Station with its classic gasoline pumps is an example of what a gas station looked like maybe 70 or so years ago, now part of Fulgenzi’s Pizza & Pasta restaurant. Another quirky establishment is one of the nation’s first drive-thru restaurants. Housed in an old train caboose, Maid-Rite has had pretty much the same menu since its founding in 1924, including its signature ground beef sandwich with onions and mustard served on a steamed bun, and often washed down with a mug of homemade root beer. “It’s a tradition for Springfield,” says Sam Quaisi who has owned the business since 1986. “A lot of people bring their kids, and we tell them this is the sandwich your grandpa and grandma grew up with.” And what’s the story behind the restaurant’s name? A hungry delivery man coined it a century or so ago. “He said let me have one of the sandwiches,” explains Quaisi. “After he had it, he said ‘you guys made it right.’”
FOR MORE INFORMATION https://visitspringfieldillinois.com www.riversandroutes.com (Alton, IL)
African American Museum, Route History, shows a restaurant.
Cozy Dog Drive through sign.
LINCOLN’S ILLINOIS
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