Pontiac Illinois is a town on the famous Route 66. Recently, we were in Illinois for a funeral and decided to visit the attractions that this little town had to offer. The population of Pontiac is slightly over 11,000 and is the county seat of Livingston county, At the center of town is a wonderful courthouse that was built in 1875 and is on the list of the national registry of historical buildings.
Many monuments surround the courthouse. Many of these monuments give honor to the soldiers who were from Livingston County and served in the seven wars that span from the Civil War to the current wars of Operation Desert Storm and the war in Afghanistan. When you look at those monuments, you see the commitment that this community put forth for their nation throughout its years.
Abraham Lincoln has a wonderful history in Pontiac. He was a lawyer for the 8th district and came to Pontiac several times in which he represented several local citizens, It was here that the Republicans of this county first nominated him for a senate seat. Later in April of 1880, the Republicans of Livingston county in Pontiac resolved that Abraham Lincoln be the choice of this convention for President of the United States. Several different sites can be seen in the city that show the history of Abraham Lincoln in the city, but one of them that stands out is a statue of young Abraham Lincoln in front of the courthouse.
Pontiac has a wonderful and unique war museum. It is a must to see and is unlike any other military museum that I have been to. It does not take that long to tour and has rows and rows of uniforms of the men and women who served in the many branches of the military.
Just beside the war museum is the Route 66 museum. It has many memorabilia of that famous highway. Many of us hear wonderful stories of the interesting attractions that this highway offered before the interstate was built and many people now travel it for nostalgia's sake. Even though the museum is small, it has exhibits such as the original Steak and Sheak memorabilia...
To VW busses and gas tanks and other items that remind us of a time gone by.
There are wonderful murals throughout the city which represents a time gone by. There is actually a mural tour of the murals in Pontiac. Some of the murals that are represented include the following.
As a car buff, I needed to visit the Pontiac-Oakland car museum. The Oakland motor company was founded in 1908 in Oakland County, Michigan. In 1909, it was bought by GM. In 1926, GM introduced the Pontiac as part of the Oakland car company and was the only survivor of the Oakland car company. This museum has a wonderful assortment of Oakland and Pontiac cars which even include a Pontaic Road Runner and a rare Oakland automobile. The museum has an assortment of neon signs, dealer promotional items. posters and other assorted items. It also has a vintage garage that will send you back into the 1950s with tools and over 1500 oil cans. If you visit Pontiac, do not miss this museum!
Pontiac also is the home to three swinging bridges that cross the Vermillion River. Be sure to see at least one of these bridges if not all of them. A swinging bridge is supported just by the cables running across the river. It has no other support so it can sway. So if you are feeling brave especially in a strong breeze, take on the adventure and cross one of these bridges, if not all three!
Pontiac is only a little more than 90 miles from Chicago. Being only an hour from where we were staying in Plainfield IL, it was a great place to visit and see all of the attractions that this little town of Pontiac had to offer. So if you ever decide to drive the old Route 66 or are in the Chicago area and are looking for a great place out of the city to visit, this is a great town to consider. You can see the attractions that I did, take in others, or do the 'charm tour'-- one that collects charms from participating local vendors and museums. So be like these geese: come waddle in and visit this town!
