Which Illinois museum in Pontiac preserves Route 66 memorabilia and is housed in a former fire station?

The Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac, Illinois, preserves Route 66 memorabilia in a former fire station.

Pontiac’s museum is dedicated to the people, businesses, vehicles, signs, and stories connected with the historic highway. Its collections help explain Route 66 as more than a line on a map: it was a commercial corridor whose gas stations, cafés, motels, repair shops, and attractions served generations of motorists.

The museum occupies the city’s former fire station, giving the collection an adaptive-reuse setting closely tied to local history. Pontiac itself is an important Route 66 stop in Illinois and also contains murals and other public art celebrating the highway.

The museum should not be confused with the Illinois Route 66 Association Hall of Fame, a related institution in the broader Route 66 preservation movement. The wording “Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum” identifies Pontiac’s visitor attraction. Its focus is the highway’s cultural and roadside heritage rather than a general transportation collection.