Pontiac, Illinois
Where Route 66 History Meets Small-Town Americana.
Pontiac, Illinois is home to the Route 66 Association Hall of Fame & Museum, celebrating the history and culture of America’s most famous highway.
The city features more than 20 large-scale downtown murals, making Pontiac one of the Midwest’s best-known public mural destinations.
Pontiac sits along the Vermilion River and was once a major transportation hub connecting rail, highway, and agricultural commerce across central Illinois.
“A Living Postcard from Route 66!”
Prior to Route 66, the main road connecting Chicago to Saint Louis was the Pontiac Trail. Created in 1915, it followed several county roads that mostly followed a former Native American trail. Like the city Pontiac, the trail was named for the famous Ottawa Indian chief. Through state and federal funds, the route was fully paved by 1923 and designated Illinois Route 4. In 1926, it became part of the new Federal Highway System and designated US Highway 66.
“You Look Fabulous!”
1970 Ford Pickup Bench
Katie Dulny
Katie is an illustrator, painter, muralist, and collage artist whose work merges whimsical surrealism with a raw, DIY aesthetic influenced by skate and street culture. Her imagery blends playful, dreamlike elements with layered textures and gritty visual references, creating compositions that feel both imaginative and subversive. Alongside her independent practice, Katie works as an art and content creator for the local creative space and bar, The Drunken Donut, contributing to community and music centered programming.
“Conoco”
1970 Ford Pickup Bench
Laine Rousseau
Laine Rousseau is a multidimensional artist based in Joliet, Illinois. Her practice blends visual and embodied forms of expression, often layering mediums such as drawing, painting, embroidery, photography, and sculpture. With 30 years of training in dance, Rousseau’s foundation as a movement artist informs her visual work through a continued exploration of the human form. Her work expresses the visceral complexities of the hidden thoughts and emotions of the internal world through ethereal compositions, shifting between muted earth tones and vibrant arrays of color. Rousseau has contributed to several public art initiatives in Joliet, including a commissioned sculpture for the Summer of Stone and Steel program, as well as community murals and projects through Waywards Art Haus.
115 West Howard Street
Pontiac, IL
- Across from Route 66 Landmark
- Great photo spot
- Parking on the premises
