Atlanta

WHEELS OF FORTUNE ON 66
Business followed the Highway Atlanta boomed when Route 66 was built in the 1920s. It didn’t last. By 1947 the busy road was rebuilt to bypass town to the east. New businesses flourished on the bypass only to fail again when I-55 replaced the Mother Road in 1977. Recently, a rebirth of interest in historic Route 66 has pumped life back into Atlanta. Opening in 1934, the Palms Grill attracted travelers on Route 66. Downtown cafes and gas stations did more than serve highway travelers. They were places where townsfolk gathered to share gossip, negotiate deals, and fall in love. Bright Memories… Faded Dreams Opened around 1920, the Deep Rock Station on Arch Street was alive with customers when Route 66 traveled through downtown Atlanta. Businesses were abandoned when Route 66 bypassed downtown Atlanta in 1947. Waiting for the Greyhound Bus As a stop for the Greyhound Bus Line, many journeys began and ended at the Palms Grill. Passengers flipped a switch to light the bottom of the neon sign alerting the bus driver to stop.
LAYING THE HARD ROAD THROUGH ATLANTA
Known as the “Great Illini Boulevard,” Illinois State Road 4 was laid through Atlanta in 1922-23. It was the first paved road connecting Chicago and St. Louis. In 1926, it was re-designated as U.S. Route 66 taking travelers all the way to Los Angeles. This quarter mile section of pavement is a remnant of that original “Mother Road.” Led by crew foreman Albert Irvin of Atlanta, men labored with horses and mules to scrape and build the roadbed through Atlanta in the summer of fall of 1922. After settling through the winter, concrete was poured. A Community Effort Communities demonstrated enthusiastic support by raising money to purchase right-of-way. In Atlanta, promoters asked fifty men to invest $200 each to guarantee the funds necessary to secure the right-of-way. Atlanta Argus September 30, 1921 “Without doubt the state road project is the most important and far reaching in the influence of anything proposed in many years… We hope to report next week that the community is ‘over the top’ on the proposition. ‘Let’s go!’” Atlanta Argus 1923 “On Wednesday morning, April 18, the first work trainload of sand, gravel and concrete went chugging through town.”