The ‘Route 66 Centennial Commission Act’ Would Recommend Activities to Commemorate Historic Highway’s 100th Anniversary in 2026
From RiverBender.com: WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, legislation sponsored by U.S. Representative Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Route 66 passed the U.S. House. The Route 66 Centennial Commission Act will establish a centennial commission in preparation for the 100th anniversary of Route 66, which begins in Chicago and continues through six other states before ending on the Pacific Coast in California. U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) were also sponsors of the legislation.
Central Illinois leaders and Route 66 advocates applauded the passage of the legislation.
Restaurant Road Trip: “The Original” pays tribute to regional hot dog history
From 12 WBOY: WESTON, W.Va. – “The Original” hot dog stand located in the shadow of the old Trans-Allegheny Hospital in Weston has plenty of history of its own.
“It’s been in the family for over 35 years, almost 40 years,” owner Chelsea Pickens said.
When she and her husband Kyle Pickens took over the family business on December 1, they wanted to pay tribute to what many remember as the first hot dog stand in the region.
Rockland questions if 60-year-old Sears building is historic enough to save
The building at 279 Main Street, right, sits at a prominent intersection in downtown Rockland. The building, which was formerly a Sears department store, is slated for demolition. Credit: Lauren Abbate / BDN
From Bangor Daily News: ROCKLAND, Maine ― A downtown property owner who plans to demolish part of a 60-something-year-old building that once housed a Sears department store refutes the idea it has enough historic relevance to preserve.
National retailer Sears, Roebuck & Co. constructed the building in the mid-1950s after a fire in 1952 destroyed the buildings on the block, including The Rockland Hotel, which once stood at the address.
Historic Firestone sign likely to keep brightening Akron nights once refurbishing is complete
The iconic Firestone sign atop the Plant One building in Akron is being removed letter by letter, followed by the symbol, starting Saturday. Bridgestone Americas is upgrading the sign from neon lights to LED lights and it will be refurbished and then relocated likely to another place in Akron.”Karen Schiely, Akron Beacon Journal
From the Akron Beacon Journal: It looks like there’s a great chance the iconic neon Firestone sign taken down from on top of the old Plant One is going to stay somewhere in Akron.
Just not where it’s been for more than a century.
Bridgestone Americas, which owns the Firestone brand, announced Friday the sign will be taken down, refurbished and upgraded with more efficient LED lights, then relocated to an undisclosed location. Work to remove the sign began Saturday morning, with cranes used to lift the large lettering off the rooftop to the ground.
Up with the sun to bring down neon signs
David Flannery’s 1982 photograph shows a forest of signs in Auburn Street, Goulburn. Photo: David Flannery.
From About Regional: Aimed at travellers on the Hume Highway passing through Goulburn, Auburn Street’s neon signs once grew bigger, brighter and bolder. The number and variety of them on the town’s main street also rose – chemists Max Hogan, John Douglas and John McCarthy; hamburgers, fish and chips, and other takeaway food; electrical appliances and whitewoods retailers Sidwell’s, and Argent and Stone; and Young’s department store.
For years after the Hume Highway bypassed Goulburn in 1992, the old signs, for various reasons, defied attempts to take them down. Then a solution happened on sunrise one morning in the late 1990s, before traffic became busy.
Two determined businessmen standing in the bucket of a cherry picker, Neil Penning and John Guthrie, rose above the awnings to dismantle the obsolete signs. Today, a section along Auburn Street most noticeable for signage before the bypass, is beginning to look like a green oasis when viewed through the lens of author and photographer Leon Oberg.