Joliet: City History, Route 66 and Nature Trails

Joliet combines impressive city history with industrial heritage, Route 66 culture and green trails. If you are looking for a mix of museums, distinctive buildings and nature experiences for your trip, you can put together very different day plans in Joliet. When choosing your holiday apartment, it is particularly worth considering whether you would like to focus on culture, historic sites or outdoor trails.

Discover Joliet through museums and historic sites

A good introduction to the city’s history is the Joliet Area Historical Museum. It is located in the former Ottawa Street Methodist Church at the intersection of Cass Street and Ottawa Street in downtown Joliet. Since its opening in fall 2002, the main exhibition has provided insights into the stories of the Joliet area and its residents.

Several exhibitions have their own focus. Made in Joliet showcases objects made in Joliet, including a rare 1909 Economy Motor Buggy. Routes of Agency explores how Black residents of Joliet’s South End built a vibrant, self-sustaining community during the Great Migration. The Martin & Emma Planinsek Grocery and Meat Market Museum conveys the experience of Slovenian immigrants; at the same time, the museum recreates a corner store that operated from 1926 to 1961. The Slovenian Woman's Heritage Museum preserves Slovenian ethnic heritage and honors the immigrants who settled in the region.

Distinctive buildings also form part of Joliet’s cultural profile. The Rialto Square Theatre is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Tours include the Esplanade, the Rotunda, the stage and the Green Room. The P. Seth Magosky Museum of Victorian Life & Joliet History combines an architectural resource center with a museum of Victorian lifestyle. The historic Hiram B. Scutt Mansion is considered a Civil War-era house and Joliet’s last limestone building. Old Joliet Prison was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

Industrial history, Route 66 and outdoor trails

Joliet’s history of work and transportation can be combined with outdoor excursions. The 52-acre Joliet Iron Works Historic Site provides insight into the region’s industrial past in a natural setting along the Des Plaines River. Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park also has a history trail. Its glacial erratic markers tell stories about historic businesses and homes along Joliet’s first street. The permanent exhibitions at the Joliet Area Historical Museum trace the city’s early development through the Illinois-&-Michigan Canal.

For a route connected to American car culture, the Route 66 Welcome Center offers a diner scene featuring actual historic images of Route 66 in Joliet. The Joliet Railroad Museum introduces visitors to another chapter of transportation history: it is a former interlocking tower from around 1913 that has been preserved and integrated into the Gateway Center Train Station. From the tower’s third floor, visitors can enjoy views for observing trains from all directions.

Anyone who wants to include some exercise between museum visits will find a specific route in the paved Joliet Junction Trail. The trail stretches 4.36 miles from Crest Hill southward through Joliet. Pilcher Park is characterized by high-quality mesic and wet-mesic upland forests, seep spring communities, striking spring wildflowers and old trees. The Pilcher Park Nature Center offers hiking, cycling and cross-country skiing on scenic trails and uses hikes and hands-on activities for educational programs.

Choose the right focus for your trip

Joliet is well suited to travel planning in which not every day has to look the same. Culture enthusiasts can make the museums, exhibitions and Rialto Square Theatre the focus of their trip. Those interested in transportation and American history can combine Route 66, railroads and industrial heritage. For a more active part of the day, the Joliet Junction Trail or the trails in Pilcher Park are good options. Families and travel groups with different interests can therefore accommodate various preferences without reducing the city to just one theme.

When looking for accommodation in Joliet, it is therefore worthwhile to decide in advance what pace you want for your trip. A holiday apartment can serve as a base for cultural days, historical discoveries or excursions to the nature trails. For further trip planning, you can also look at Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Channahon, Crete, Monee and Mokena.

For the broader travel overview: Will County.