Photo: Wikimedia Commons — see author and license on the file page.

Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station

Retro roadside
In Litchfield, Illinois
On Route 66
National Register of Historic Places

The Belvidere, a café, motel and gas station in one, stands on Old Route 66 in Litchfield, IL, right beside the old road. Dating from 1936 and built in the Tudor Revival style, it combined three roadside services on one site, with two motel units and a house. Check whether any business is operating there before planning a stop; the building is on the National Register and makes a good photo from the street.

What is Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station?

This is a roadside complex of the kind that once served Route 66 drivers in one stop: a café for meals, a gas station for fuel and a small motel for the night. The main building is in the Tudor Revival style. Besides it, the site holds two motel units and a separate residence, which together show how compact a roadside business of this kind could be.

History of Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station

The complex dates from 1936, a decade after Route 66 was established. It is listed on the National Register as a historic place, recognized as a surviving piece of the highway's roadside business in Illinois.

Visiting Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station: tips

Unless a business there is clearly open, treat the site as private property and view it from the street. It takes only a few minutes. The Ariston Cafe, about 0.6 mile away, is the natural next stop, and the Manske-Niemann Farm is about 2.3 miles off. For fuel, a gas station is about 0.5 mile away.

Practical info

Address: 825 Old Rte 66 S, Litchfield, IL 62056
On site & nearby

Sources: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Wikidata · official site — may be outdated. Suggest a fix

On the map

Full map

Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station with the 6 closest stops. Tap a marker for details.

Tap a dot to see that stop here.

Stops near Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station

All of Illinois

Ariston Cafe

Litchfield, Illinois · on Route 66

A 1935 restaurant on Old Route 66 in Litchfield, listed on the National Register and still a meal stop.

Retro roadsidePhoto credit

0.6 mi from Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station

Manske-Niemann Farm

Litchfield, Illinois · 0.6 mi from Route 66

A 462-acre German immigrant farm at Litchfield, built up in three stages from the 1860s to the early 1900s.

Historic districtPhoto credit

2.3 mi from Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station

Soulsby Service Station

Mount Olive, Illinois · on Route 66

Mount Olive's 1926 house-and-canopy gas station, counted as the oldest usable station on Illinois Route 66.

Retro roadsidePhoto credit

7.7 mi from Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station

U.S. Route 66

Staunton, Illinois · on Route 66

The Mother Road itself: the 1926 highway from Chicago to Santa Monica, here on its Illinois run.

Route 66 sitePhoto credit

12.7 mi from Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station

John Weir House

Edwardsville, Illinois · 0.4 mi from Route 66

Edwardsville's second-oldest house, an 1836 brick Federal home where a doctor saw patients.

Historic buildingPhoto credit

29.1 mi from Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station

Narodni Sin

Edwardsville, Illinois · on Route 66

A 1906 Czech community hall in Edwardsville, built for culture and physical fitness.

Historic buildingPhoto credit

29.1 mi from Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station

Own or run Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station? Send us a photo or a correction.

See it on the map