It's in the Guinness Book of World Records

Illinois has many treasures scattered along it's roadways.  Old schools, century old parks and memorials dot the prairie along every small road and village. And of course, Illinois also has Route 66.  Established in 1926, route 66 began in Chicago and wound its way through several states before ending in Santa Monica, California. It's been immortalized in songs, movies, tv shows, books, and so much more.

Almost as famous as the roadway itself are the attractions one finds along it. Who hasn't heard of the gas stations with the colorful neon and giant dinosaurs. The little museums and trinket shops that sprang up to entice the weary traveler with a chance to buy a souvenir or two. The motels with cabins in the form of wigwams, recently parodied by a children's movie with giant safety cones. And then there's the covered wagon in Lincoln, IL.

A relatively recent addition to Route 66 it was created by local artisan David Bentley as a project while he was recovering from a surgery. Built of steel and oak, it stands 25 feet tall and 40 feet long and is ranked as the largest covered wagon in the World!  On it's seat, reading a law book, is none other than Honest Abe himself, measuring an impressive 12 feet high as he rolls across the prairie landscape.

Everyone talks about the places in the world that Must be seen. Egypt has it's pyramids, France has the Eiffel tower, England has Big Ben. And we have the worlds largest covered wagon just a two hour drive away. If you're ever down that way stop by for a moment and snap a photo or two. You won't be disappointed.

A Hodge Podge

Often when I'm out I'll shoot a couple hundred photo's, anything that catches my eye is fair game.  But not all the photo's get used, some are duplicates or taken from a different angle, and others are shots of things I couldn't find a story on.  Here's a few for you to enjoy!

Decoration Day

At the end of the American civil war thousands of men from both sides lay in countless graves across the country. By the late 1860's communities across America were holding tributes to the fallen, putting flowers on their graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns. Those small beginnings led to what we know as Memorial Day today.

John Logan, a Union general, called for a national day of remembrance on May 30th, 1868 and on that day general James Garfield gave a speech at Arlington National cemetery where 5000 attendee's decorated the graves of 20,000 union and confederate soldiers buried there.  The tradition caught on and by 1890 every state had its own Decoration day.

Originally, Decoration day only honored those men lost in the civil war, but as WW 1 progressed the holiday was generally accepted to honor soldiers who had fallen in any war.  For decades Memorial Day fell on May 30th, regardless of what the actual day was. But in 1968 congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, setting Memorial Day on the last Monday in May, thus giving federal employees a 3 day weekend.

So as you stoke up your Bar-B-Ques and pop open the can of beer just before the big game, take a moment to remember Why you have this 3 day weekend and if you have a Veteran in the family, or know a Vet, thank them for their service.

Finding myself in Manhattan

On a recent trip over to Indiana I took the opportunity to travel some of the back roads of Illinois and happened to pass thru Manhattan. Manhattan, Illinois, that is. It's a quiet village south and east of Joliet which has one great feature that immediately drew my attention. It has a historic Round barn.

In 1893 Chicago hosted the Great Columbia Exposition which featured some of the most memorable buildings and attractions available at the time. Commemorating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus discovering America, The exposition covered more than 600 acres of ground, featured over 200 buildings representing the cutting edge of American technology at the time. There was the worlds first and original Ferris wheel, There were three life sized reproductions of the "Nina", the "Pinta" & the "Santa Maria", There were moving pictures in the very first commercial movie theater. It had a "Travelator" a moving sidewalk people could either stand or sit on which traveled in one giant loop around the fair.

27 MILLION people attended the fair from May the 1st thru October 21st when the fair closed. One of the notable visitors was Helen Keller who toured it along with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. It was such a popular draw that Buffalo Bill Cody set up his wild west show just outside the fair grounds and entertained the masses. The cost of the fair was 1.5 Million dollars (38.8 million today). the fair made that money back within a few weeks of opening.

There are some notable survivors from that fair. The Field Museum of Chicago is one, the Museum of Science and Industry is one, The Art Institute is another. And then there's the story of the round barn.  The barn was not displayed at the fair. Rather the wood that the barn is constructed of was provided by the vast quantities of lumber that as left over after the many temporary buildings from the fair were disassembled. And so it was that John Baker purchased some of the lumber and constructed two round barns in 1898.

One barn is gone but the other survives to this day and is now a park and museum. There are five levels to the barn, level one originally used for horses and cows for a dairy operation but now consisting of horse drawn farm machinery. Level two was originally used to store hay for the livestock but now holds various implements which were used in the day to day running of the farm. The third level was once an apartment but now holds items that would have been used in the farm house itself. The fourth level is a good spot to view that inner workings of the framework and construction while the fifth level allowed air to circulate through the barn.

Nearly 100 years went by and in 1986 the barn was modified to be turned into a public museum, now called the Baker-Koren Round Barn farm park. They host civil war reenactments there, pioneer days, petting zoo's and more. A golf course is also on the property. If you ever find yourself down that way it is Well Worth the time to stop and marvel at another Round barn and soak in some of the history those walls have seen.