Dwight's "Star" Attraction

Ever poised on that cusp between past and future, we tie memories to souvenirs like string to trees along life's path, marking the trail in case we lose ourselves around a bend of tomorrow's road.

--Susan Lendroth

As we approach the Village of Dwight, I-55 bends gracefully away from Route 66 to the west. Meanwhile, we've made three awkward turns--a right and two lefts--just to stay on The Route.

Although Route 66 bypasses Dwight's downtown, this quaint village is "not just another bump in the road"--and it is certainly not to be missed. Even the highway itself pays homage to delightful Dwight, curving around this quintessentially Midwestern town rather than careering through its center. Here, "the touch of dreams/is over all," as Carl Sandburg describes the ideal of the American small town with its picturesque streets, handsome homes, and historic buildings. Even Prince Albert found this town fit for a future king's visit. No wonder Dwight became "the most famous village of its size in America."

For Route 66 enthusiasts, the "star" attraction is the Ambler-Becker service station at the crossroads of Historic 66 and Old 66 on the south edge of town. Built in 1933, Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station, also known as Vernon’s Texaco Station and Becker’s Marathon Gas Station, was one of the first to service travelers on The Route. When it closed in 1999, Ambler's Texaco became the longest continuously operated service station to pump gas on Historic Route 66, serving customers for 66 years, naturally. We saw several old gas pumps in Joliet, but seeing these original antiques standing in front of this beautifully restored roadside attraction is truly impressive.

We park in the lot and get out to admire the station’s design; according to the guidebook, its cottage look with white clapboard siding was purposely styled to be homey and inviting to customers in the 1930s, many of whom were leaving the comforts of home for the first time to explore the country on the new highway. We peek through the door to the main office, remembering the old Coke machines of our past when a dime would buy an ice-cold bottle of Dr. Pepper (my favorite) or Pepsi (T's preference). Of course, when we were kids, everything was a lot less expensive. In those days, there was no such thing as "self-serve," and gasoline cost just 33 cents per gallon!

We also peer into the paned windows of the service bay, a simple circa-1940 concrete block addition to the north side of the original building. The Ford firetruck on the lift looks like it is just as roadworthy as it was in the 1930s. The garage is chock full of vintage antiques, such as the old-fashioned tire pump and gas can on the workbench. The drawings of fancy cars of the 1930s and '40s stenciled on the work cabinet certainly look much more stylish than our 2014 Ford Focus. However, we can hardly imagine driving a vehicle without power steering and brakes, trying to negotiate the twists and turns of the Mother Road. The Route earned its reputation for "Dead Man's" curves.

Like so many of the buildings we have seen so far on Route 66, the Ambler-Becker service station has been given a new life after finally closing up shop in 2002. With the help of a matching grant from the National Park Service’s Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, the station now serves as a visitor’s center for the Village of Dwight. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. As a harbinger of the future, the EV charging station on the north side of the parking lot promises that the Ambler-Becker station will continue to serve Route 66 travelers for decades to come.

As we prepare to leave, the Old Route 66 Family Restaurant sign across the street beckons us to "follow the Mother Road to good food." TripAdvisor reviews confirm their claim, and we're tempted to find out whether they have a home-cooked antidote for the chicken dinner we suffered at the Polk-A-Dot in Braidwood. But the allure of downtown is too strong, so we decide to discover a bit more about delightful Dwight before the sun goes down. We take a left on Old Route 66, which becomes West Mazon Avenue as we approach the center of town. We admire the large homes, old and new, which line the tree-draped streets. We pass the former C&A Railroad Depot, a splendid example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture built in 1891. Across the street from the depot sits the former Frank L. Smith Bank, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905. As we circle around town to the south, we drive by the stately John R. Oughton House (now a restaurant) with its lovely carriage house (now the public library) and Don Quixote-esque windmill built in 1891  by Dwight physician Dr. Leslie Keeley, founder of the world-famous Keeley Institute. The village still has the feel of the therapeutic community it was for the hundreds of thousands of alcoholics who came to Dwight to take the Keeley Cure. Who knew that such a little town could hold so many treasures?

We are reluctant to leave Dwight in the rear-view mirror, but we must press on to Odell. We return to the Ambler-Becker station for one last look before heading southwest on Historic Route 66. As the sun sets, I notice a wind farm to the east; on the western horizon, the ruin of old barns fade into the lengthening shadows. The two images seem poised on the cusp of the past and future.

As we enter Odell, a sign reads "Small town with a big heart where everybody is somebody." The tiny town probably lives up to its great motto, but the streets are deserted as we drive through. We are looking for the old Mobil Station (long closed) with its galloping red-winged horse sign and the historic Odell Standard Oil Station. After spending so much time admiring the Ambler-Beck station, we are less impressed with these remnants of the past: the one with only the sign and a couple of classic cars to keep it from fading into oblivion; and the other in need of another restoration. The ravages of time and weather render the upkeep of these and so many other historic buildings a Sisyphean task.

Yet without such heroic efforts, what would become of the Mother Road?