Roadside oddities39.8290° N, 89.6383° W
Springfield, IL
A restored service-station collection preserves pumps, signs, garage equipment, and artifacts gathered from decades of Route 66 motoring culture.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
Roadside oddities in Illinois
Everything OddWay knows about. Narrow it down by what you're after, or where you're going.
Roadside oddities71
Suggest a stopGiant objects, odd monuments and things built for no clear reason.
- Roadside oddities41.8997° N, 87.6746° W
Chicago, IL
A deliberately crude bronze coil created by artist Jerzy Kenar as a pointed response to dog owners who refused to clean up after pets.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities40.2583° N, 89.2354° W
Atlanta, IL
Atlanta's bright yellow water tower wears an enormous painted smile, one of the easiest drive-by oddities on this stretch of Route 66.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities39.0711° N, 89.7354° W
Mount Olive, IL
The tiny 1926 Soulsby station is one of the oldest surviving filling stations along the Illinois Route 66 corridor.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities40.5175° N, 88.9807° W
Normal, IL
A restored 1931 Tudor Revival gas station is one of the most architecturally distinctive filling stations on Illinois Route 66.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities41.0019° N, 88.5290° W
Odell, IL
This restored 1932 filling station is one of the most photogenic surviving examples of the small service stations that lined early Route 66.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities37.1523° N, 88.7327° W
Metropolis, IL
A 15-foot bronze-painted Superman dominates the courthouse square in the Illinois town officially promoted as the adopted home of the Man of Steel.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities37.0054° N, 89.1764° W
Cairo, IL
George Grey Barnard's muscular bronze laborer, first exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, stands in Halliday Park as an unexpectedly monumental sculpture.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities40.5590° N, 88.9081° W
Towanda, IL
A walking trail follows abandoned Route 66 pavement past interpretive signs, old alignments, roadside relics, and recreated historic signage.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities37.5237° N, 88.8387° W
Tunnel Hill, IL
The trail's namesake old railroad tunnel cuts through the ridge along a converted rail line now used by hikers and cyclists.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities41.7919° N, 87.5812° W
Chicago, IL
The only German U-boat captured by the United States during World War II is displayed indoors beneath the Museum of Science and Industry.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities38.7356° N, 88.0940° W
Olney, IL
Olney is famous for a protected population of white eastern gray squirrels, with City Park one of the best-known places to look for them.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities41.9761° N, 87.6690° W
Chicago, IL
Taxidermy, bones, medical pieces, strange antiques, and unconventional art make this long-running Andersonville shop feel more cabinet of curiosities than store.
- Access
- Seasonal or ticketed
- Roadside oddities38.6629° N, 89.9822° W
Collinsville, IL
Collinsville’s 170-foot Brooks catsup-bottle water tower was built in 1949 by Caldwell Tanks for the G.S. Suppiger catsup plant. Saved from demolition and restored by a community preservation campaign in 1995, it remains beside Route 159 as one of America’s best-known roadside landmarks and can be photographed from nearby public areas.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities40.1486° N, 89.3873° W
Lincoln, IL
Lincoln’s Railsplitter Covered Wagon was built by David Bentley and donated to the city in January 2007. The 25-foot-tall, 40-foot-long wagon carries an oversized seated Abraham Lincoln and remains a free Route 66 photo stop; its canvas cover is removed during winter and returned in spring.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities39.3066° N, 87.9813° W
Casey, IL
A roughly 30-foot wooden golf tee stands at a local golf course as another of Casey's Guinness-recognized oversized objects.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities39.3155° N, 87.9788° W
Casey, IL
An enormous metal pitchfork planted outside a farm-themed business continues Casey's townwide obsession with making ordinary objects absurdly huge.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities40.1483° N, 89.3645° W
Lincoln, IL
A 40-foot covered wagon carries a giant Abraham Lincoln; it moved to 120 N. Kickapoo Street in 2026, so older map pins are obsolete.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities39.7129° N, 89.6472° W
Springfield, IL
Motorheads' exterior now features an enormous Route 66 shield and a 30-foot Muffler Man called Big Ron, both built for oversized roadside impact.
- Access
- Open to visitors
- Roadside oddities39.2997° N, 87.9906° W
Casey, IL
Casey’s enormous teeter-totter is another piece of the Big Things Small Town project, built as a functioning oversized playground object and certified as a world-record attraction. It is visible outdoors for free beside Casey’s other giants, while opportunities to actually ride it are restricted to scheduled dates during the tourism season.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities39.2996° N, 87.9911° W
Casey, IL
Casey’s first major world-record project was the giant wind chime, whose steel framework went up November 17, 2011 and whose chimes were installed on December 15 that year. The 54-foot structure still stands downtown and visitors can pull the rope to make the huge chimes sound.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities39.2988° N, 87.9936° W
Casey, IL
Casey’s enormous mailbox was built to satisfy Guinness requirements as a genuinely functional mailbox: visitors can climb the stairs inside and mail letters that raise its working red flag. Created during Casey’s mid-2010s Big Things expansion, it remains a free downtown attraction at 19 West Main Street.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry
- Roadside oddities39.3000° N, 87.9911° W
Casey, IL
Casey’s 56-foot, 46,200-pound rocking chair took two years to complete and officially claimed its record on October 20, 2015 after ten people demonstrated that it could actually rock. It is now fixed in place and remains a free outdoor centerpiece of Casey’s walkable collection of giant objects.
- Access
- Roadside, no entry