Originally, the café was started in nearby Carlinville by Pete Adam however, when the Mother Road was rerouted, Pete leased a new building in Litchfield in 1929. This has since grown to a 138-bed facility dedicated in 1971.Īnother vintage icon is the Ariston Café, in business since 1924. In 1875, the first hospital was established by the nuns from the Order of St. When the Civil War started in April 1861, Litchfield was the first town in Illinois to respond to the President’s call for men. On April 4, 1856, Litchfield formally incorporated its village, and soon elected trustees and appointed its first Justice of the Peace and Police Magistrate.
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By the time the railroad reached Litchfield in the fall of 1854, most all of the citizens of the doomed Hardinsburg had relocated to the new town of Litchfield. McWilliams, who moved his small store and house from Hardinsburg in January 1854. However, when it was determined that the railroad would bypass Hardinsburg’s 50 residents in favor of Litchfield, its residents began to move their buildings, on runners over the prairie grass, to Litchfield. Soon 80 acres of cornfields and prairie grass became 236 lots for sale.Ībout two miles southwest of the site of Litchfield, another settlement called Hardinsburg was also founded in anticipation of the coming railroad. In the late fall of 1853 the County Surveyor, Thomas Gray, laid out the town in a cornfield purchased by the Litchfield Town Company. Louis Railroad announced that they were going to come through the area, the town of Litchfield was born.
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They'll tell you all kinds of stories about people around the world who have taken their picture under it.When the Terre Haute, Alton and St. If you don't know what I'm talking about, ask the workers. Be sure to get your picture underneath the classic lit sign. Another cool thing is that it is literally next door to Jubelt's and the Litchfield Route 66 Museum (both recommended places for Route 66 enthusiasts). There's a lot of history about the Ariston Cafe, if you're interested (did you know that at one time, there were two gas pumps in front of the place?). Not surprisingly, the cafe has won several awards, including the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and the National Register of Historic Places. Of course, this place does everything it can to capitalize on its iconic status on Route 66. Service was great, as were the restrooms. I should have got some pie or dessert, but oh well.maybe next time. It was pretty good, even though the fries and cheese weren't on top of the meat and bread. I wasn't sure what they were best known for, like their specialty dish - so I went ahead and got the buffalo chicken horseshoe sandwich. A lot of their sandwiches/main dishes came with the soup/salad bar. The food selection and prices seemed cool, as there were several things I wanted to try. So weird, but that's the cool thing about these nostalgia places.
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There's even a romantic-type dining room with a bar. All the tables/booths all set up nicely and the workers are in serious dress mode. I'll start with the restaurant experience part: I've read so much about the Ariston Cafe that I felt like I knew a lot about this place, thinking it was a diner-type restaurant, but it's actually the other way around! It looks so fancy on the inside, even though the workers deny that kind of thing (laughs). Who's down for a piece of American history? Or pie? The Ariston Cafe is one of those places that one may feel like they have to stop there while cruising the interstate and/or the Mother Road.