Route 66 will turn 100 in 2026

The U.S’s most famous highway will next year be seeing the beginning of a lengthy and lively birthday bash and you’re invited. Route 66, which links Chicago with distant coastal Santa Monica, California, will in 2026 see its 100th anniversary, but celebrations revolving around that milestone will actually begin in late June 2025.

And Illinois tourism representatives say their state will be in the thick of those celebrations, with Cory Jobe, President & CEO of southwest Illinois’ Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau, which Route 66 — popularized in part by a TV show of the same name and mentioned in John Steinbeck’s classic novel The Grapes of Wrath — passes through.

Jobe  reports that businesses and attractions along the route are eagerly preparing to celebrate its first 100 years, including many in his home state, which has the start of the famed highway and is home to 301 miles of it. Attractions are being added along that part of the route that is found in Illinois, while historic sites are being restored for the centennial.

Among existing Great Rivers & Routes Route 66 attractions are the Doc’s Just off 66; Litchfield Museum & Route 66 Welcome Center; Route 66 Monument Trail; Route 66 Post Card Mural Trail, which features 14 postcard-style murals decorating towns along the “famous Mother Road”;  the West End Service Station Route 66 Interpretive Center, once a fuel stop in the town of Edwardsville that has been renovated into an interpretive center, educational museum and visitor center; Route 66 Shields that serve as a “photography waypoint in Girard, Gillespie, Carlinville, Litchfield; Hamel, Edwardsville, Collinsvile and Granite City”; and such intriguingly named attractions as the Largest Catsup Bottle Water Tower; Million Dollar Courthouse;  and the Pink Elephant Antique Mall.

Jobe suggests that Illinois has the most interesting stretch of the “All-American road,” thanks to those traveling it passing communities every 10 to 15 miles, a contrast to some other regions in other states that are sparsely populated. “There’s town after town (in Illinois),” Jobe states while Great Rivers & Routes in turn adds visitors will see “classic American kitsch, great dining and lots of historic sites” while traveling that part of the highway that’s found in southwestern Illinois.

Jobe and his Great Rivers & Routes colleagues aren’t the only Illinois tourism officials upbeat about the coming anniversary. “We’re very excited. It’s a huge milestone in American history and really tells of nostalgia,” adds Miriam Blumenthal of the DuPage Convention & Visitors Bureau, which represents an area found 20 miles west of downtown Chicago.

Mary Twomey of Enjoy Illinois in turn promises that, “Throughout the entire state there will be celebrations and commemorative events. We’re excited to showcase our portion of Route 66 to the world.”

Terry Truman of Visit Springfield Illinois reports his destination is home to the Route 66 Gate 2 Experience, which provides insights into the lengthy route for those who don’t have time to travel it in its entirety. The Illinois State Fairgrounds Route 66 Gate 2 Experience includes a 40- foot Route 66 neon sign.   

The Illinois section of Route 66 has numerous neon signs, a reminder of an earlier era, Truman adds.

Lyn Pilch of Mississippi River Country — which promotes tourism to states along the Mississippi River — notes Route 66 passes through member states Illinois and Missouri, adding Mississippi River Country is a “big proponent of National Scenic Byways,” routes recognized for remarkable qualities.

“We’re lucky to have some of the best Byways,” she says, citing the likes of not only Route 66 but also the Great River Road, which follows the Mississippi River from its source in Minnesota to Louisiana and “takes you through the history of America.”

The region is the “source of all the music” that’s seen as American, Pilch says. The Mississippi River begins as a “little ripple in Minnesota,” eventually becoming a “mammoth” waterway, she adds. Another Byway Pilch cites is Natchez Trace, which links Nashville with Natchez, Mississippi, and is “particularly scenic,” Pilch says.

Meanwhile, Route 66 regions in Illinois are seeing other welcome developments, with the DuPage Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Noonie Aguilar reporting that her region will be hosting the Presidents Cup, which pits the top American golfers against the best non-American golfers. The 2026 competition will be held at the Medinah Country Club, which among other things has hosted the U.S. Open three times.      

“We’ve been working on it for three years,” Aguilar says of the President’s Cup. “We’re excited that we will welcome the best golfers in the world.” Spectators will be welcome for the competition.

Truman adds that Springfield is steeped in American history, in large part because of its ties to a U.S. president who helped bring dramatic changes to his country.

Jeffrey Lewis-Matthews of The New Era Travel Advisors in Toronto met Will Bloom of the Louisiana Office of Tourism at the Mississippi River Country event.

“There’s not a place on Earth with more Abraham Lincoln sites than Springfield,” he states. Those sites include his early home, Presidential Museum and his tomb. Springfield continues to play a weighty role, Truman adds. “Chicago thinks they are (the capital of Illinois) but we are,” he observes.

Those wanting more information can access mississippirivercountry.com or riversandroutes.com or DiscoverDupage.com or VisitSpringfieldIllionois.com.

Tantalize the tastebuds

Cory Jobe of Great Rivers & Routes; Miriam Blumenthal of Discover DuPage; and Mary Twomey of Enjoy Illinois pose with bottles of Horseradish Vodka at the Mississippi River Country event in Toronto.

Not all the horseradish produced in southwestern Illinois ends up as a food condiment.

Cory Jobe, president & CEO of the Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau, reports his region produces 80% of the world’s horseradish, and some of it is now being used to create a local vodka, vodka he believes may be unique to his part of the world because of its distiller shunning the standard potatoes or grain.

And those exploring a famed American roadway can sample it while on their journey.

“It’s a distinctive taste. It’s something really different,” Jobe said of aptly named Horseradish Vodka while handing out bottles of it that had Route 66 keychains dangling around their necks at a Mississippi River Country — which promotes tourism to Mississippi River states — presentation in Toronto.

Route 66 — made famous in literature and by the entertainment industry — works its way through Jobe’s southwestern Illinois region.

The Toronto evening also saw Bloody Marys made with Horseradish Vodka given to attending travel agents.

Those traveling Route 66 — which will mark its 100th anniversary in 2026 — can purchase the vodka and sample it at the Old Herald Brewery & Distillery in the town of Collinsville, with that site not only serving as a distillery but a brewery, restaurant and meeting locale as well. It can also be found in local liquor stores.

Old Herald Brewery & Distillery — which makes other alcohols, including gin that contains rhubarb — promises that its vodka is made with “freshly grated horseradish roots,” adding it “makes a fantastic Bloody Mary” and is “surprisingly smooth.”

The vodka is also touted as being great for martinis. Jobe adds that he’s confident that those who try Horseradish Vodka will give it the thumbs up, even if the name and one of its ingredients may raise eyebrows. “I think it surprises people,” he adds.