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McHistory goes back in time to explore big moments and small stories from McLean County history. McHistory episodes can be heard periodically on WGLT's Sound Ideas.
The iconic Route 66 will hit the century mark next year. Before it became the "Mother Road" it was Illinois Route 4. And on it was a rest spot for those early motorists on the south side of Bloomington.
“This transition period, the early to mid-1920s, was the golden age for the tourist camp, these very early campgrounds for vacationers in the early automobile era. Tourist camps were sprinkled along what was Illinois Route 4 and then became U.S Route 66,” said Bill Kemp, librarian at the McLean County Museum of History.
Tourist camps were made possible through the rise of the internal combustion engine in the early 20th century and its affordability for upper middle class and then eventually middle-class Americans.
“The drives in Forrest (sic) and Highland Parks are being dragged and prepared for oiling. This will probably be done today unless rain prevents,” reported The Pantagraph on June 30, 1925.
It was also the era of the "Hard Road" movement, which saw muddy tracks converted to compacted gravel thoroughfares, and eventually paved roads.
