Checking out the historic brick road of Auburn Illinois Route 66 - Fly and drive
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- I'll take you on a tour of Auburn Illinois' beautiful section of brick Route 66 just off Route 4.
Follow me aerial made possible by Yuneec Q500 typhoon.
Haven’t seen many of those old brick roads but nice to see one being preserved
It's still there. Go check it out.
I got a couple thousand bricks from that stretch of Route 66.
I was born in 1939 in Auburn, 4th generation. Lived there until Feb 1958 when I left for the Marine Corps. I do not remember any section of Route 66 on this brick road. That was always old Route 4 from Auburn through Chatham and on into South Springfield. I walked that entire route one night after high school. Route 66 was always 5 miles east of Auburn, running from St Louis to Glenarm then Springfield and on to it's end in Chicago.
If these bricks were ever a portion of Route 66, it had to be before 1939. I believe my dad would have known and talked about a 5 to 7 mile realignment from here you show it.
It was long before 39. It was Route 66 up until 1932 or 34. That is when original Route 66 (IL rt4) was moved to its more current alignment. IL Route 4 was used as Route 66 and was the first to be paved from Chicago to St. Louis out of all 8 states.
You are absolutely correct. My sincere apology. I looked it up and found the entire description -- to my embarrassment.
No problem!!!
I wanna thank you for keeping route 66 alive
Love it, love it, love it! You did a beautiful job on this, Rich. Many of our locals will enjoy this for many years to come.
Back in the mid-1990's the Curran Road north of this curve went from an oil and chip rock county road to a Class 3 Truck Route (asphalt county road). That increased the heavy trailer traffic immensely and tore the heck out of this north-south section on the brick road. Bricks were flying out making huge holes. Instead of replacing the bricks, the State of Illinois was patching the holes with asphalt.
As this was happening some group had this brick road placed on the National Register of Historic Sites (or Places, I don't remember the exact title). And this was before we ever started seeing Historic 66 signs bring posted.
So then the push from the trucking firms was to replace this road or blacktop it. Thank God for the National Historic Register, the State of Illinois couldn't do either. So the next decision was, should we leave it as is and bypass it with a newer road or restore the brick road. Obviously restoration was the decision, but it had to be retrofitted to work with today's safety standards and to work as an extension to the Class 3 Truck Route. The original bridges were narrow from the 1920's era with the tall thick solid concrete bannisters. The bridges were so narrow, two cars could not meet unless they were compact cars and they were still a tight fit. So IDOT replaced the bridges making them look like some of the old style bannisters of the 1930's but taller and making the floor stronger to accommodate for the heavy trucks. Then they widened the shoulders, reshaping the ditches. At the north-south bridge, even the creek was rechanneled. Originally the creek was about to washout the road and IDOT was constantly filling in the shoulders with rock. The ditches were cut deeper. Many times before the road and bridge would flood. Many improvements were made, many that were long overdue. Even the shoulders were made wider to allow as an emergency lane.
So now instead of patching, bricks are replaced. The older dark red and sometimes almost black bricks are the original bricks. Other sections (mainly the north-south portion) was replaced with new brick.
My mother and grandparents talked about remembering when the brick road was laid. Route 4, as most of us locally have always called it, was a brick two-lane road starting in Springfield at the corner of MacArthur Blvd & South Grand Avenue West (this is not a misprint, this is how we say it in Springfield and there's a reason for it) and went south to Wabash Avenue (originally known as the Wabash Curve before there was the intersection we have today), then to Chatham Road going south. Then there was a section of this brick road that was removed about 1975 as it crossed Woodside Road & Spaulding Orchard Road and headed southwest into the timber to cross Lake Springfield, then went through Chatham and all the way into Auburn where it ended at Junction IL-4 and IL-104 (also known as the Auburn Junction).
Occasionally it's interesting in Springfield or Chatham whenever there's a water main break or something else that crews have to dig below the street, you can still see the original brick highway under all the many layers of asphalt.
Scott Walkington
Thanks for your accounts, Scott.
Excellent information. Thanks!
Thanks for making this video. I may have to check it out sometime when I'm driving that way on I-55. I know you said most of the route was concrete when they paved it, but can you imagine what it would be like to drive on a brick road all the way to CA? And, imagine how many bricks that would've taken for just a two lane road. LOL
Very cool! Love the old brick roads and happy to see Illinois preserving the roadway.
great video... hey, imagine driving over 150+ mile an hour on that brick surface... the old Indianapolis Motor Speedway used to be made of those bricks...
not Route 66 related, I know, but some people may appreciate the little history... anyway, love the aerials... keep them coming...
Thanks for the video . I always look forward to seeing a new upload from you - keep 'em coming. I'll have to search out this section when my pop and I do our Route 66 trip this fall. Might shake my old 49 Shoebox apart , lol ! Pics of the car on this old section will be great . Thanks for the heads up , Rich.
Thank you for sharing this Rich! Always, always enjoy your videos! Keep them coming! I always enjoy all of them! Anything related to Historic US Route 66! Mark in Iowa.
I just went here now. Thanks for the info. Looking forward to your next video.
I hope you enjoyed.
Keep up the great work Rich! Hope to see all these places one day, but, if I cant, always have this channel to see what I'm missing.
Well if you ever come down this part of Route 66 you gotta stop at Cozy Dog. Birthplace of my he corn dog.
Cool, the Google map car actually traveled this road and you can see it in Google maps, interesting that they did, because they don't normally map the side roads like this one. Good way to test out a vehicle's suspension b4 you buy it. Imagine driving a long trip with the coarse bricks under you instead of the smooth pavement we have gotten so used to.
That would be a long trip. There are still many sections of brick pavement in Illinois, but they are not drivable or they have be resurfaced with other materials.
This actually predates US 66 by a few years. This was built as part of old SBI-4 sometime around 1924.
Nice job Rich!
Very interesting to know it is made of brick.
Cheers;)
Thank you for the map at the beginning. It helps a lot :)
Great episode yet again.
Wooley689 Thanks!
Thomas Garman - You are correct. The short stint of the brick pavement just south of the Mill is still drivable. It might only be about 400', but it is still through.
Another brick road in east IL that has old brick is the old National Road.
+Joey Moric yes. very cool highway
What kind of Drone do you use!We will be driving Route 66 in May..we can't wait!!Watching alot of your videos!
for this video it was a Yuneec. I use several.
Great camera work and production values.
Thanks!
I'm from lincoln illinois and theres still a brick portion of route 66 going towards springfield if i remember correctly! also the old mill as well.
He covered a video on that section already
MrManlet I’ve seen it! I’ve drove it too, something about Route 66 makes driving the interstate boring.
Rich, this is amazing. How do i get hold of you?
Email. Rich@hookedonroute66.com
My hometown 💪
So cool! I found the start of the northern part on Google Maps:
goo.gl/maps/6Inym
How cool would it be to actually live on this brick-lined historical area! Thanks Rich for letting us drive it with you and all the history you add with your videos. Awesome!
i get to drive that road everyday
You live in a cool part of the state then! :)
Roamin' Rich yes I love it, I friend lives near becks barn so I take that large curve going east and love how it banks
That's cool... It's kind of a bummer that we lost Becky.
-texting and driving-
*FLYING DRONE AND DRIVING*
Gotta love my talent!
@@HookedOnRoute66 im impressed. you responded same-day on a video from 4.5 years ago
Yeah... btw, I can't fly and drive anymore.... too difficult. I can't even hardly talk on these phone and drive. It's amazing what happens after 40.
@@HookedOnRoute66 ha! im 17 so i have a while to go. Happy New Year!