05/22/2024
Check out our new Pig-Hip Tshirts! Sizes small through XXL available.
The Mill Museum on Route 66 Lincoln Illinois
- Home
- United States
- Lincoln, IL
- The Mill Museum on Route 66 Lincoln Illinois
The "Blue Mill Restaurant" opened in 1929, along Route 66. "The Mill" is now a museum! Waitresses dressed in white dresses and blue-trimmed aprons.
Address
738 S Washington Street
Lincoln, IL
62656
Opening Hours
| Tuesday | 12pm - 4pm |
| Wednesday | 12pm - 4pm |
| Thursday | 12pm - 4pm |
| Friday | 12pm - 4pm |
| Saturday | 12pm - 4pm |
Telephone
Website
Alerts
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Mill Museum on Route 66 Lincoln Illinois posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Share
Category
The Mill Museum on Route 66
The first cross-county road in the United States, Route 66, opened in 1926. Three years later, in 1929, Paul Coddington opened “The Blue Mill”, a diner where travelers driving along Route 4 in Lincoln, Illinois, could purchase sandwiches any hour of the day or night. Waitresses dressed in white dresses and blue-trimmed aprons. A Dutch-style building, it was painted white and trimmed in blue. A revolving windmill made the diner easy-to-find. Route 4 later became part of the cross-country Route 66. Albert and Blossom Huffman bought the restaurant in 1945, built on a bar room of knotty pine, added an Army barracks to the rear of the building for a dance hall, and painted the building barn red. A delicatessen with curb service took the place of the dance hall for a number of years, after which the building became a dance hall again. Live bands played on the weekends. The interior was no longer a Dutch motif but had become a museum of oddities. To name just a few: a mechanical leg protruded from the ceiling, a 20-pound stuffed catfish hung on the wall, and a suit of armor was featured in the main dining room. The Mill became known as “The Home of the Schnitzel”, a huge breaded tenderloin sandwich made by Louise “Mom” Rofschansky, an Austrian immigrant who brought her recipe from the Old Country. Originally made from veal, Louise would sit there many, nights pounding it until three or four in the morning. Later, it was made from pork. The Mill restaurant closed in 1996 and aged with time, crumbling into disrepair. (See photo at the top of this page.)
The Mill is now owned by Logan County Tourism Bureau, a 501-C3 non-profit organization. It took 11 years, dozens of volunteers and sponsors, $90,000, and items donated by companies and individuals throughout Logan County. It’s now a unique museum for all things related to Route 66 in the county.
Lincoln is a town of 15,000 people located on Route 55, 30 miles south of Bloomington and 30 miles north of Springfield. In addition to The Mill Museum, it’s home to the Largest Covered Wagon, and the iconic, restored neon sign from the Tropics restaurant.
