An evening in Odell

Hello Everyone,

Last time I blogged, I was in Dwight, Illinois and missed out on a tourist stop because it was getting late in the day. I had myself a picnic in Dwight and before I drove to the next town on Route 66, Odell, I found a Route 66 Related Geocache.

The geocache is called, Remnant of Route 66 (placed by Reeser11, 2 favorite points). If you watched my YouTube video in my last blog entry (Relic and Cute Station) you saw me find a geocache by an ‘old’ road of Route 66. This geocache takes you off the current road and onto, well a remnant of the old Route 66. This geocache wasn’t all that difficult to find, it’s just the swarms of mosquitos you have to watch out for. 

It was a little fun driving on the old road and taking just a quick moment to think about what that road has seen over the decades. The vast number of vehicles driven over that spot, the vast number of types of vehicles that drove over that spot, and the vast imagined reasons why.

While geocaching, I met a dad and his two daughters geocaching for the first time. One of the girls learned about geocaching in school and talked her dad and sister into trying it. We talked for a very short period of time, due the blood sucking insects attacking us, and we parted ways.

The first placed I stopped at, in Odell, was an old 1950s Mobile Station. Of the course it was getting late and the doors were closed, but I did get some fun pictures.

Further down the road I found an iconic Standard Oil Station that was built in 1932. It is one of the few old structures left that have shingles for siding. Of course it’s been rebuilt over the years, but you can tell that the town came together to keep it up and make it their jewel of their town.

Here is what legendsofamerica.com has to say about it....

While in Odell, an absolute must see is the historic Odell Standard Oil Station, built in 1932. The land was first purchased by Patrick O’Donnell, who built the station based on a 1916 Standard Oil of Ohio design.

In the late 1940s, O’Donnell added a two-bay garage to the building to accommodate garage and repair services, which were necessary in order to stay competitive with the nine other stations that occupied the short stretch of Route 66 through Odell. Later O'Donnell leased the property to others, who began selling Sinclair and Phillips 66 products.

The station continued to operate until the 1960's when it discontinued selling gas and was used as a body shop until 1975.

In 1997, the station was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and then, due to the collaborative efforts of the Illinois Route 66 Association, the Village of Odell, Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, and Hampton Inn Landmarks, it was restored to its former glory.

A Standard Oil sign hanging from the roof swings gently in the warm breeze and an old-fashioned gas pump looks ready to serve the next customer. Although Odell's Standard Oil Gas station is no longer selling gasoline, it has become a welcome center for the Village of Odell. The station won the National Historic Route 66 Federation Cyrus Avery Award in 2002 for the year’s most outstanding Route 66 preservation project. 

This building was closed too. But I did find a geocaching on it’s grounds, Fill Er Up (placed by Loli10, 62 favorite points). This find can be a little tricky, but I had help.  The dad and two girls I met earlier, showed up looking for this cache as well. Together we searched it out and added another find to our stats.

There are a handful of Non-Route 66 Related Geocaches in town that I didn’t seek out either because it was getting late or didn’t have enough favorite points to interest me. 

But there is one multi geocache in Odell, Miller’s Crossing (placed by theneimanfamily, 3 favorite points), that is near an very interesting spot. There is a church in town that also had a school. In the early years of Route 66, traffic was so busy in town that they build a tunnel so school children and church goers could cross under the street without worry of getting hit by a car. 

After this part of Route 66 was redirected to a 4 lane road and the threat of heavy traffic went down, they filled up the tunnel. Across the street from the church, you can find a couple steps that lead to the old tunnel. It’s kind of neat spot to stop and reflect on how The Main Street of America effected towns in different ways and how the people of those towns coped. 

So at this time, the sun is setting and it’s time for me find a place to sleep for the night. I looked on my map and noticed the city of Pontiac isn’t too far away. I find a motel on my phone, book it, and vow to come back the next morning so I can see the inside of the 1932 Standard Oil Station. But I’ll save that for next time.

Until then, look me up on Facebook (Rich Havlik) and follow me on Twitter (@richhavlik). I post on those social media sites whenever I update this blog.

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I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to make a comment down below. Let’s make this a community of people who love Route 66, Geocaching, and love doing both.

I had the time my life on the Mother Road and I know you would love it too. But don’t take my word for, experience it for yourself.

Until next time,

Rich