Plenty of photo ops, pedestrian attractions and a new plaza make Pontiac a must-see site for anyone celebrating the 100th birthday of Route 66. You will not be alone, if predictions for a record year hold.
Liz Vincent, Pontiac’s community enrichment and tourism director, says the town’s Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum typically gets 25,000 annual visitors. “We expect that to double this year because we have already blown away the number of monthly visitors,” she said.
Pontiac, 105 miles northeast of Springfield, has long capitalized on its Mother Road connection.
“Pontiac was one of the first Illinois communities to embrace their Route 66 heritage as a development tool for tourism and economic development,” Vincent said. “Our museum was built in 2004 before others along the road, so we were a little ahead of the curve.”
Donations of artifacts, photos, videos, a license plate collection and kiosks of iconic spots along the Illinois portion of Route 66 help fill the museum. Hall of Fame plaques hang in honor of people and businesses important to the road’s history. Memorabilia include Route 66 legend and artist Bob Waldmire’s 1972 VW van and postmarks from every post office along the route from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, which took the collector three years to obtain.
Waldmire promoted the highway and willed his van and his “Road Yacht” home to the museum. The larger vehicle has been behind the town’s museum complex for years and in late June will get a mid-century modern awning for shelter. Also part of the new Centennial Plaza will be a custom-designed neon sign and a drive-up area good for photos in front of the Route 66 shield mural.
The Route 66 museum is one of several historic exhibits housed in the town’s old fire station. The Livingston County War Museum includes 250 mannequins dressed in local veterans’ uniforms, artifacts, flags, photos, hand weapons and ammunition.
The complex also includes displays on the Titanic, music from the Civil War, an exhibit of Waldmire’s art and a gift shop chock-full of Route 66 souvenirs.
The Livingston County Courthouse a few blocks away, built in 1875 and on the National Register of Historic Places, presides over the downtown square. During the week, courthouse visitors can see an exhibit on local history with artifacts from pre-historic times, Native American culture and early settlers.
Across the street is the Museum of Gilding Arts, which claims to be the only gilding museum in the U.S. The museum has original tools, workbenches and floors from a Connecticut factory dedicated to the art of applying gold leaf. You can learn about the craft from information panels and gilded examples.
Vincent said the Pontiac-Oakland Automobile Museum and Resource Center, near the gilding museum, is always updating its exhibits. Opened in 2011, it is the only all-Pontiac museum in the world and grew out of the founder’s visit after attending a Pontiac car show in Chicago. He decided the town was a natural fit for a collection of vintage autos and historic gear from Pontiacs and their predecessor Oaklands.
All of the museums are open every day and admission is either free or with a small charge.
While downtown, take a stroll to view some of the 28 outdoor wall murals telling the history of Pontiac. Walldog artists from around the world painted 18 of them in 2009, and local artists added the rest. You can view many of them from your car but a walking tour adds more information.
Local artists also added 15 miniature cars statues downtown, including 10 1957 Chevys and three pickup trucks, to help tell Route 66’s history. In Dargan Park visitors can see three 25-foot-tall “Seasons of Life” metal sculptures depicting childhood, middle age and old age.
Other outdoor features in town are three pedestrian swinging bridges over the Vermillion River. The first, built in 1898, is 190 feet long. Others were added in 1926 and 1978.
Vincent also recommends a drive-by of the old Illinois State Police Headquarters a mile out of town. Now empty, the Art Deco building is in the shape of a pistol. She said the building is popular with selfie-takers as are Looking for Lincoln sites, six wayside exhibits on the historic road, and the Log Cabin Restaurant, which also celebrates 100 years this year.
And then there is Wally’s gas station and mega-store just off Interstate 55 on the edge of town. Vincent says Pontiac’s economic developers are happy that Pontiac is now more likely known for Wally’s than for the Illinois state prison in town. But this summer, visitors may focus more on Route 66.
For more information about Pontiac, go to visitpontiac.org.
Mary Bohlen first wrote about Pontiac for IT in 2018 as part of her monthly Illinois Bicentennial series, featuring interesting places throughout the state. She is a retired journalism professor and a freelance writer specializing in Midwestern destinations.
This article appears in Summerguide 2026.
