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Sunday, July 12, 2009

Rt 66 Museum & Walldogs

Pontiac IL is becoming one of my favorite towns. It has such great community support and a lot of interesting things going on. Saturday we decided to go see the Rt 66 Museum and walk around town.The Rt 66 Museum and adjacent Livingston County World War II Museum are housed in the old Fire Department Building. Both have a lot of good artifacts and nostalgia. The Rt 66 designation was assigned in 1926 for the highway running from Chicago to Los Angeles and it went through Pontiac.Next door was the equally impressive Livingston County World War II Museum. Most items are either given or on loan from residents from nearby towns and counties in Central Illinois.
We have seen a lot of museums over the years but these two stand out because of the personal touch and the large amount of artifacts. Note the people in the right hand corner of the collage: Marilyn Pritchard and Bob Eckel. They are heavily involved in the museums and the major reason they have been such a success for Pontiac.

Another town attraction has been murals commemorating Rt 66 and the history of Pontiac. Recently, the Walldogs (a group of more than 100 sign painters) painted the outdoor works of art and murals.

The wall art has taken on the name of the artists: "Walldogs". I got a lot of them but not all are pictured here:It really adds to the charm and personality of the town. They did a good job with it.

We had fun learning more about the town and walking around seeing the sights. It also provided this dates entry for the Roadrunner Chronicles. Hope you enjoyed it too and will check in for the next edition.

2 comments:

  1. It's fun following your travels. I can't believe you are actually doing it after all of that planning and preparation. It sounds like you are having a great time. When are you going to get out to the West Coast?

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  2. That's so close to the kids. We'll have to stop when we get out that way with the RV. Never time to stop and look while working.

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