Dwight - "Not Just a Bump in the Road"
Dwight, Illinois is a pretty little town of some 4,500 residents whose motto is "Not Just A Bump in the Road", a truth you will learn when you take the time to stop and explore this old Route 66 town.
It all began in the early 1850s when two railroad surveyors by the names of James Spencer and T.C. Myer camped near what would soon be the town of Dwight. When Richard P. Morgan, another survey engineer, was asked to give the place a name, he suggested it be named after Henry Dwight of New York who had invested a fortune into the building of the railroad. And it was so named.
At this time railroad stops often became towns and Dwight was no different. Morgan went on to build the first mill in 1859 and donated the land for the Presbyterian Church. A man named David McWilliams soon built a store that did booming business and then went on to help start Dwight's first school and the town's first bank, now known as the Bank of Dwight, the oldest business institution in the town.
In 1879 Dwight was a still a quiet railroad town when young Dr. Leslie Keeley opened the doors of the Keeley Institute, the first medical institution to treat alcoholism as a disease. By the 1890's Keeley Institutes were located in nearly every state in the nation and many overseas.
Dwight contains an original stretch of the famous Route 66, and uses a railroad station designed in 1891 by Henry Ives Cobb. Built in the 1920's, Route 66, also known as "The Mother Road" brought many people through Dwight on their way west looking for a more prosperous life. When Route 66 bypassed Dwight's downtown district, the town quickly responded by building new businesses along the highway.
Big Al's Hot Dogs will be one of the first things you see as you enter Dwight on Route 66. Soon you will pass Ambler's Texaco Station. Built in 1933, it later became The Marathon Oil Station and serviced travelers until 1998. Currently being resored by the community, this building will serve as our visitor's center.
Off Route 66, in downtown Dwight, there are several historical buildings that the town has taken care to preserve. The beautiful stone railroad depot, built in 1891, houses the Dwight Historical Society and the Chamber of Commerce. This building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Also on the National Register is the Prairie Creek Public Library, housed in an old carriage house, The Country Mansion, formerly the Keeley home, and the Pioneer Gothic Church, the first church built in Dwight in 1857.
Downtown is the First National Bank building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905 (the only remaining of the three buildings designed by him) and the former Keeley Institute, with its priceless stained glass windows depicting the five senses.
As you can see, Dwight is indeed "not just a bump in the road". It is a small community with a rich history that we hope you will come visit real soon.
Sources:
City of Dwight, IL
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Legends of America
