Illinois’ Historic Lincoln Highway Road Trip

Enjoy the Illinois scenery as you travel down US 30 from the Indiana border to Joliet through quaint downtowns and past fields of corn. A feature of this historic highway is the 1916 Arche Memorial Fountain, the “Crossroads of the Nation.”

Learn about the area’s history at the Joliet Area Historical Museum before crossing over the Des Plaines River. Drive through Plainfield and travel along train tracks into Aurora with its beautiful 19th-century Victorian homes.

This leg of Illinois’ Lincoln Highway (SR 31/SR 38) is full of rural farmland, but in DeKalb, the road is lined with 19th-century, brick storefronts creating a beautiful downtown area. In Geneva by city hall and in DeKalb at the corner of 11th Street are two of several interpretive gazebos along the historic highway that house panels that share the history of the area.

Make a stop in Dixon to visit the historical sites. Start with the Dixon Welcome Center which can provide you with brochures for self-guiding tours, and do not miss the mural on the exterior of the building. Be sure to get a photo of the Lincoln statue that resides in the Lincoln Monument State Memorial.