James R. Wright - The Dixie Highway in Illinois

Early credit and thanks go to Homewood village president Richard Hofeld, who had a vision to promote the history of the Dixie Highway, and to chairperson Elaine Egdorf and the members of the Homewood Heritage Committee who refined this vision and enlisted representatives from communities all along the highway in Illinois. From these beginnings in 1999, Drivin the Dixie, an event that takes place each June, was born. Many thanks go to others involved in Drivin the Dixie for their efforts promoting the highway, including the As R Us Model A Ford Club, particularly Bob Steinmetz and Wally Ekstrom, and to the Dixie Highway community organizers for their work in ensuring this event is as successful as it is.

Many of these individuals have served as a foundation for support, information, and photographs for this book. Others who have lent their assistance are numerous, and I will try to recognize many of them here: Rob Medina, Chicago Historical Society; Carol Flynn and Linda Lamberti, Ridge Historical Society; Richard Reuss; Mike Janko, Blue Island Historical Society; Jerry Bosch and George Peso, Evergreen Park Historical Commission; village president Donald Schupek and trustee Charles Spindler, Village of Posen; Dave Bartlett; Geraldine Leuther Justice; Homewood Historical Society; Chuck Hecht; Carolyn Wagner, Chicago Heights Public Library; Dominic Candeloro; Mike Leoni; Richard Felicetti and Don Croarkin, Bloom Township High School Archives; James Leech, South Chicago Heights Historical Committee; Millie Zeman, Steger Historical Society; Miriam and William Giebel; Carol and Wehlan Triebold; Phyllis Monks, Crete Historical Society; Virginia Bath and Arnold Cooper, Beecher Historical Society; Marilyn Ohlendorf; Sylvia Unruh; Janet Nelson; Victor Frahm, Ileane Breslin, and Vern Koelling, Grant Park Historical Society; Harold and Amelia Schriefer; Landis Wehrmann; Kevin McNulty; Janine Loftus, Main Street Momence; Jean Stetson, Edward Chipman Public LibraryMomence; Brent Langman; Richard McHie; Robert Hoekstra, Don Bonvallet; Gilbert Irps; Robert Bovie; Doug Redenius; Fr. James Fanale, St. Anne Church; Marilyn Miller; Jeff Webster; Ginny Lee and Judy Ficke, Iroquois County Historical Society; Deborah LaFine, Iroquois County Genealogical Society; Jim Pence; John Devine; Gloria Lynch; Sue Crist, Milford Public Library; Frank and Fred Hines; Jean Minnick and Carol Hicks, Hoopeston Historical Society; Lou Graham, Hoopeston Public Library; Kevin Young, Rossville Historical Society; John Brain, Newell Township Historical Society; Norma Clem Bailey; Sue Richter, Vermilion County Museum; Roberta Allen and Jackie Woodard-Smith, Danville Public Library; secretary Milton Sees, Dennis Markwell, Joseph Putnam, Amy Eller, and Eugene Smania, Illinois Department of Transportation, and Ed Smith. For those whom I may have missed, please accept my sincerest apologies.

Finally, I would like to thank Karen Smith for editorial assistance and my good friend Phil Serviss for his encouragement, technical advice, and research assistance.

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One

COOK COUNTY

The Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue at Adams Street was considered to be the starting point of the Dixie Highway in Chicago. The institute played host to the ceremonies marking the start of the Dixie Highway inspection tour in 1915 and, as this photograph illustrates, has always been a popular attraction for tourists visiting the city. The museum was founded in 1879, and the current building dates to 1893. (Courtesy Chicago Public Library.)

In October 1915, Carl G. Fisher and other Dixie Highway boosters embarked on an inspection trip of the highways route traveling from Chicago to Miami. The trip started early on Saturday, October 9, with a program held at the base of the Spirit of the Lakes fountain on the grounds of the Art Institute of Chicago. Gov. Edward Dunne gave a rousing speech before joining the motorcade on its trip through Illinois. (Courtesy Chicago History Museum.)

Judge Michael M. Allison was another dignitary who addressed the crowd in Chicago before leaving on the Dixie Highway inspection trip in October 1915. Allison was president of the Dixie Highway Association, whose headquarters were in the Patten Hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Highway associations and automobile clubs were major forces in the Good Roads Movement in the early days of the automobile. (Courtesy Chicago History Museum.)

As part of the October 1915 dedicatory program at the Art Institute of Chicago, young ladies representing Miss Dixie and Miss Chicago join hands in a show ceremoniously linking the North and South. Young girls representing Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois, the states the highway passes through, surround them in front of the Spirit of the Lakes fountain. (Courtesy Chicago History Museum.)

Hazel Lee (left) as Miss Dixie and Marguerite West as Miss Chicago link hands at the Art Institute of Chicago on October 9, 1915, prior to the start of the Dixie Highway inspection tour. From left to right, Illinois governor Edward Dunne, Dixie Highway Association president Michael M. Allison, and Chicago city prosecutor Henry Miller look on. (Courtesy Chicago History Museum.)

After paving on the Dixie Highway was completed, Illinois Dixie Highway communities designated August 12, 1921, as the official opening of the highway. A parade of automobiles left Danville for Chicago at 6:00 a.m. and, at each community on the way, other automobiles joined the caravan along with their local Miss. Miss Dixie and other young ladies representing Dixie Highway communities pose for this photograph at Chicagos Municipal (now Navy) Pier. (Courtesy Chicago History Museum.)

Buckingham Fountain, located in Chicago east of Michigan Avenue in Grant Park, was dedicated on August 26, 1927. The fountain contains 1.5 million gallons of water and was built at a cost of $700,000. Funds for construction were donated by philanthropist Kate Buckingham in memory of her late brother Clarence. The fountain became an instant attraction for tourists in Chicago on the Dixie Highway. (Authors collection.)