Illinois Photographic Destinations
Let me help you to find a great location in Illinois for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser known destinations, as well as the famous “Icon Locations” for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to insure a quality guide to great locations for photography in Illinois.
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Illinois Photographic Destinations
Illinois Destinations
Soulsby Service Station Rt 66
The Soulsby Service Station is a historic service station in Mount Olive, Illinois. The station is located along historic U.S. Route 66 and is the oldest usable service station on the highway in Illinois.
The Soulsby Station is an excellent example of a house with canopy form. By the time Mr. Soulsby built his station in 1926, the leading oil companies had been hiring architects to design stations that would blend well with neighborhoods to minimize local opposition to the crudeness often associated with gas stations. Mr. Soulsby designed the building himself, taking into account these trends and blending well with the surrounding area.
Although the Great Depression soon began, the station thrived. America was broke, but it was still traveling. As Will Rogers would say, “We might be the first nation to drive to the poorhouse in an automobile.”
When Henry Soulsby retired, his children Russell and Ola Soulsby took over the station, a partnership that would endure until Ola’s death in 1996. Each was as adept as the other at pumping gas, checking the oil, and looking under the hood or chassis to detect and fix problems. Russell always had an eye for technology. During World War II, he was a communications technician in the Pacific theater. Shortly after coming home, he turned his experience into a second, simultaneous career–radio and television repair. He used an antenna on the roof of the station to test his work.
Route 66 was a great agent of progress and development, but its very success helped spell its doom. In the late 1950s, Interstate 55 began supplanting it in Illinois. In Mount Olive, the Soulsby Station ended up a mile away from the new thoroughfare. In 1991, the Soulsby Station stopped pumping gas but continued to check oil, sell soda pop, and greet the ever-growing legion of Route 66 tourists. Sending everyone off with a wink and a wave, Russell and Ola closed the doors for good in 1993 and sold the station in 1997 to a neighbor, Mike Dragovich. When Russell Soulsby died in 1999, his funeral procession took him under the canopy one last time. This time it was his friends’ turn to wink and wave.
The current owner, Mr. Dragovich, and the Soulsby Preservation Society began preservation efforts in 2003, removing vinyl siding, restoring the original doors and windows, and repainting the exterior. In 2004, the National Park Service provided grant support for restoration efforts. Today, the station looks essentially the same as it did during its post-World War II heyday. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Where it is:
The Soulsby Service Station is located on old Route 66 in Mount Olive Illinois.
710 W 1st S St, Mt Olive, IL 62069
Maps:
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, click and drag the to move the map, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view.
GPS:
39°4’15.9728″ N 89°44’7.0658″ W
Cost:
There is no cost to visit.
Hours:
There are no regular hours for the location, the grounds are open 24 hours a day.
Facilities:
There are no facilities at the service station, however there are restaurants and other stores in Mt. Olive.
Location Contact Information:
710 W. First St.
Mt. Olive IL 62069
Phone: +1 800-258-6645
Soulsby Service Station Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in Illinois
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State
[...]Read more...
Chain of Rocks Bridge
Chain of Rocks Bridge is one of the more interesting bridges in America. It’s hard to forget a 30-degree turn midway across a mile-long bridge more than 60 feet above the mighty Mississippi. For more than three decades, the bridge was a significant landmark for travelers driving Route 66.
The bridge’s colorful name came from a 17-mile shoal, or series of rocky rapids, called the Chain of Rocks beginning just north of St. Louis. Multiple rock ledges just under the surface made this stretch of the Mississippi River extremely dangerous to navigate. In the 1960s, the Corps of Engineers built a low-water dam covering the Chain of Rocks. That’s why you can’t see them today. Back in 1929, at the time of the construction of the bridge, the Chain was a serious concern for boatmen.
A massive undertaking in its day, the Chain of Rocks Bridge had a projected cost of $1,250,000. The bridge was to be a straight, 40-foot wide roadway with five trusses forming 10 spans. Massive concrete piers standing 55 feet above the high-water mark were to support the structure. Plans called for a four-mile fill along the road leading to the bridge’s north end.
All that proved true except for one major change–in direction. Riverboat men protested the planned bridge because it was to run near two water intake towers for the Chain of Rocks pumping station. Navigating the bridge piers and the towers at the same time, the river captains argued, would be extremely treacherous for vessels and barges. Besides, the initial straight line would have put the bridge over a section of the river where the bedrock was insufficient to support the weight of the piers. Either way, the bridge had to bend.
During World War II, Chain of Rock’s colorful red sections had to be painted green to make the bridge less visible from the air. At the same time, wartime gas rationing reduced traffic. To offset these costs, the City of Madison increased bridge tolls to 35 cents per car, with an additional five cents per passenger—a fee structure that sets on its head today’s system of special high-speed lanes reserved for cars carrying more, not fewer, people.
In 1967, the New Chain of Rocks Bridge carrying Interstate 270 opened just 2,000 feet upstream of the old bridge, which closed in 1968. The bridge deteriorated, and during the 1970s, Army demolition teams considered blowing it up just for practice. In 1975, demolition seemed imminent. Fortunately for the bridge, a bad market saved the day. The value of scrap steel plummeted, making demolition no longer profitable. At that point, the Chain of Rocks Bridge entered 20 years of bridge limbo–too expensive to tear down, too narrow and outdated to carry modern vehicles. In 1980, film director John Carpenter used the gritty, rusting bridge as a site for his science fiction film, Escape from New York. Otherwise, the bridge was abandoned.
Today you might say that the Chain of Rocks Bridge has completed a historic cycle. Built at the beginning of America’s love affair with the automobile, it is now a reflection of America’s desire not to ride in cars so often. During the 1980s, greenways and pedestrian corridors became increasingly popular, and a group called Trailnet began cleanup and restoration of the bridge. Linked to more than 300 miles of trails on both sides of the river, the old Chain of Rocks Bridge reopened to the public as part of the Route 66 Bikeway in 1999.
Because the bridge has not been significantly altered over the years, a visit there today conveys a strong sense of time and place, an appreciation for early-20th-century bridge construction, and outstanding views of the wide Mississippi River. The Chain of Rocks Bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Where it is:
Chain of Rocks Bridge parallels U.S. 270 along West Chain of Rocks Rd. between Riverview Dr. in St. Louis, MO and Illinois 3 in Madison County, IL. Connections are present to the MCT Confluence Trail, Mississippi River Trail, and St. Louis Riverfront Trail, and free parking is available in Illinois at the bridge entrance and at North Riverfront Park, south of the bridge along the Riverfront Trail. A park with a pavilion, improved native habitats, event lawn and gated parking lot opened on the Missouri side of the bridge in 2024. Parking is available at the Illinois Bridge entrance and at North Riverfront Park, south of the Bridge along the Riverfront Trail. The bridge is open to bikers and pedestrians daily.
Maps:
GPS:
38°45’45.3225″ N 90°10’44.1682″ W
Links:
Chain Of Rocks Park
10840 Riverview Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA
Hours:
Open daily by 9 a.m. closes at sunset.
Cost:
There is no fee for the Chain of Rocks Bridge.
Location Contact Information:
(314) 436-7009
1-270 at Riverview Dr.
reatriversgreenway.org/bridge
Great Rivers Greenway maintains the bridge and area around the bridge on the Missouri side. The site hosts community programs and events such as Eagle Days, Chain of Rocks Car Shows, and numerous runs, bike rides, and historic Route 66 tours. The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is the northern anchor for the Mississippi Greenway: Riverfront Trail that extends south to the Arch.
Chain of Rocks Bridge Photo Gallery
Click Here for full page gallery
More Photographic Destinations in Missouri
Interactive Google Map
Use the map + – controls to zoom in and out, use the Map drop-down to change to “Map”, “Satellite”, “Hybrid”, or “Terrain” views. Drag the little man icon from the upper left corner to a map location for street level view. Click on a pushpin for more information about the Photographic Destination, then click on the title to go to the location page.
Click Here for Photographic Destinations by State [...]Read more...