We went to Pontiac, Illinois to get Kate’s National Park Passport Book stamped, but we parked in the wrong place about two blocks away. Instead of the museum complex, we parked near the Pontiac-Oakland Auto Museum that had a bunch of Pontiac cars. Ironically, Pontiac, Illinois is not named for the Pontiac car, and no Pontiac cars were ever made in Pontiac, Illinois. Pontiac cars were made in Pontiac, Michigan just northwest of Detroit. The town of Pontiac, Illinois was named for an Odawa War Chief that lead an armed struggle against the British from 1763 to 1766 in the Great Lakes region. (Wikipedia shows that Pontiac’s Indian name was Obwaandi’eyaag.) According to the auto museum volunteer, the American Indian chief was first, then the town, and then the car.
We just went into the auto museum to ask where the museum complex was located, but the auto museum has some neat cars in it. We ended up looking around. It was better than we expected for a town of less than 12,000 people.
That first red car looks like the type of car that my father said he worked on when he was younger. He said that he put in such a large motor that he had to cut out the front wheel wells, add bigger springs, and move the steering column to the left. The steering was moved so far over that the car could turn on a dime to the left, but it took three blocks to turn right. The museum also had more contemporary cars and their engines.
There was even a library and model car collection.
The town of Pontiac also has 15 miniature cars and trucks on the sidewalks around town.
We eventually made it to the Pontiac Museum Complex, which included the Route 66 Museum, Livingston County War Museum, and Your Grandma’s Living Room. Okay, it might not have been “Your Grandma”, but “A Grandma’s Living Room”. There were a few other things, but those three were the big exhibits.
The Route 66 Museum is involved in the preservation of Route 66 history and artifacts. They have raised funds for saving, restoring, and moving iconic sights like the Paul Bunyan with a HotDog statue and pristine sections of the old cobbled highway. Bob Waldmire was an artist known for his Route 66 art and involvement in the preservation of Route 66 history. The VW microbus and converted Chevrolet School Bus, land yacht, belonged to him.
The war museum had mannequins in uniforms dating back to the Civil War. The grandma display had 1940s furniture and appliances. I did not recognize much of anything, but Kate did.
In additional to being known for never having constructed a Pontiac car, the town of Pontiac is known for the three swinging bridges. (Today I learned that “swinging” means something completely different for bridges and people.) Since the Vermilion river passed through the middle of town, the bridges were added to facilitate pedestrian traffic going to work at the shoe factories. The bridges were built in 1898, 1926, and 1978. The first two are close together, providing access between Riverside Drive, the Play Park, and Chautauqua Park. The last bridge connects Division street to Humiston-Riverside Park in the place where an electric railway bridge used cross the river.
The swinging bridges are fun and exciting to cross. The wooden walkway is a little lopsided. The walkway and rails look dry rotted. Some walkway boards are not secure. Some places on the bridge swing and bounce excessively. If feels like a life and death lottery at every step, what could be more fun and exciting than that? (The correct answer is doughnuts.)
Just in case we did not survive the first crossing, we took opposing selfies to commemorate the dangerous crossing.
Not surprisingly, Kate took pictures of me without permission. I only caught her the one time. She waits in ambush until I am engrossed with taking pictures, and then she strikes like a turtle. snap! Snap! SNAP! A snapping turtle. 📸🐢
Notice anything missing from the monument below?
I guess Pontiac is not an Air Force town! Since it is a World War II monument, this actually makes sense. The Air Force was created in 1947, after World War II.
