Travel Back in Time: Atlanta

Category: Destinations

Looking for something to do this weekend? Take a walking tour of a history-packed stretch of Route 66 in Atlanta, Illinois.

It’s hard not to grin when you’re greeted by a giant smiley face water tower, the first site that meets the eye when as you drive into Atlanta.

And it’s even harder not to smile when you park downtown in front of the J.M. Judy & Sons Grocers mural (a replica of the same mural from the early 1900s) and realize you’ve been transported back to a simpler time.

This will be your starting point for your walking tour of downtown Atlanta, with its historic Route 66 sites, Lincoln history, and a whole lot of small-town charm.

At the corner of Arch and Race streets, get an up-close look at the Atlanta Public Library and Museum, an eight-sided limestone structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 36-foot-tall clock tower next to the library was built in 1909 at Atlanta High School and rebuilt at its current location in 1982. Today, “keepers of the clock” are entrusted with the important job of hand-winding the clock three times a week so that the 36-inch, 1,200-pound brass bell is ready to ring on the hour.

After stopping by the library, cross Race Street to the Atlanta Route 66 Park, a popular stopover for travelers along the Mother Road who are in the mood for a picnic or a snapshot of yet another mural, this one designed to recognize Atlanta’s prime position approximately 150 miles from both Chicago and St. Louis along Route 66.

On the other side of the train tracks (just a small-town block from the park), you’ll find the J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator and Agricultural Museum. The restored grain elevator, originally built in 1904 by a local farmer, demonstrates how grain was handled and stored at the beginning of the 20th century, when a system of belts and pulleys powered by a single-cylinder engine elevated the grain to storage bins until it was time to load it onto rail cars. Tours of the grain elevator, museum, and a 1920s wooden Wabash boxcar nearby are free, but bring your cell phone—odds are, you’ll have to place a call to the number tacked up on a piece of scratch paper on the door of the little white visitor center if you want someone to show you around.

Before you head back across the tracks, hoof it down First Street to Sherman’s Curiosity Shop to peruse the selection of antiques and odds and ends (but have that cell phone ready again because you may have to call the owner to let you in).

Then it’s time to head back over the tracks, past the Atlanta Country Market Grocery Store on Vine Street with its two cash registers and a meat counter in the back (try the chicken livers and gizzards if you’re feeling adventurous), to another colorful, re-created mural. This one advertises Reisch Beer, which, if the mural is to be believed, will give you health and strength. (The building on which the mural was painted, now home to Chubby’s Bar & Grill, once served as an outlet for Reisch Brewing Co.)

Cross Vine and you’ll come face-to-face with the Wisteria Café mural, designed in honor of the Wisteria Café & Confectionary, a 1920s hotspot for ice cream sodas, cigars, candy, and 50-cent chicken dinners.

Continue down Arch until you meet Paul Bunyon. Standing 19 feet tall and clutching a giant hot dog, this fellow is hard to miss. The fiberglass monstrosity was created in the 1960s by International Fiberglass in Venice, California, the same company that designed the original ax-wielding Paul Bunyan statue at the Paul Bunyan Café in Flagstaff, Arizona. When H.A. Stephens purchased this Bunyon (whose last name was intentionally spelled wrong to avoid trademark problems), he opted for a hot dog instead of an ax and placed the character at his restaurant along Route 66 in Cicero, Illinois. In 2003, the Stephens family sold the statue and it came to reside in its current location in downtown Atlanta.

To the left of Paul, check out yet another classic mural, this one devoted to the Palms Grill Café. Cross the street to see the actual restaurant, which reopened in April 2009 after being shuttered for more than 40 years.

Stop in for the blue-plate special or a piece of pie a la mode before heading next door to the Atlanta Museum Annex, where odds are at least one of the volunteers remembers the original restaurant—some recall the days when it had booths, others reminisce about times when it looked a lot like it does today. See for yourself upstairs, where myriad newspaper articles and photographs from the era (including one of the original café interior) are showcased. While you’re there, check out the displays devoted to Abraham Lincoln (who spent time in the area before he was president) and the history of Atlanta. The annex is still a work in progress, but the brick walls, tin ceiling, and old safe left over from when the building housed a bank are reason enough to take a peek inside.

And then you’re back where you started. Your Route 66 tour is complete. Unless, of course, you’re interested in exploring more of Central Illinois’ portion of the Mother Road.

Tags: Atlanta | Route 66 | Paul Bunyon statue | Palm's Grill Cafe | Central Illinois |

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