Illinois Route 66 - Mount Olive

MOUNT OLIVE, ILLINOIS. The Soulsby Service Station was built by Henry Soulsby in 1926 just in time for that new national highway, Route 66. Henry designed the building himself, a "house and canopy" structure that was a nice fit with the surrounding rural Mount Olive neighborhood. The business was passed on to Henry's children, Russell and Ola, when he retired, and the brother and sister partners sold gas at the station until 1991. They spent a couple more years at the spot greeting Route 66 tourists, then sold the place to a neighbor in 1997. The National Park Service provided a grant in 2004 for the station's preservation, and the old place looks great today.