Route 66’s sunken ‘treasure’
‘Route 66 Submerged’ boat tour ‘shows’ original road alignment
By Tamara “Tammie” Browning
Visitors seeking the historic segment of Route 66 in Springfield, Illinois, must first look at water.
Not land.
The original alignment of Route 66 from 1926 to 1930 is under Lake Springfield in Springfield, Illinois.
Visitors can “see” that original alignment through Route 66 Submerged: A Sunken Road. A Story Resurfaced.
It’s a free, 45-minute interpretive pontoon boat tour on Lake Springfield that takes place Mondays and Fridays through Oct. 2, 2026, at Lake Springfield Marina, 17 Waters Edge Boulevard, Springfield, Illinois.
Hours are 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays.
A 1 p.m. Monday, June 8, 2026, boat tour was cancelled due to “storms that are headed towards us this morning.”
“We apologize for the inconvenience, but safety must be our first concern,” a message announcing the cancellation says. “We hope that you will be able to join us for a future trip to discover the sunken road.”
The 2:30 p.m. Monday, June 15, trip offered blue skies and temperatures in the 70s, with a nice breeze.
“Welcome to the Submerged boat tour here. We’re going to explore a section of Route 66 that is actually underneath Lake Springfield here,” the tour guide says.
Overview of sunken road
Passengers are encouraged to enjoy nature while on the boat ride: fish and waterfowl such as ducks and loons.
They hear an overview of the history of Route 66, which began in 1926 and was decertified on June 27, 1985.
Route 66 gave Americans want they wanted in 1926 – safer and more efficient roads. Route 66 was the first highway to directly connect the eight states of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
Before Route 66 was established, each state was responsible for their own sections of road, “which was nothing more than gravel back then,” the tour guide says.
“The states would rent out sections of the road to companies that would maintain the roadway, but they’re allowed to advertise,” the tour guide says. “If a grain elevator company was responsible for a section of road, their road signs would have, say, a stalk of corn on it. If the coal miners union had one, there might just be a sign with a big ole black lump of coal.
“Roads back then were not connected, so it really was the day of, ‘Go down to the oak tree, hang a left. When you get to the old iron bridge, you want to go left. Don’t go right, or you’ll end up on John Smith’s farm, and you don’t want to do that.’ ”
Constructing lake, sinking road
Passengers travel off the dock at Lake Springfield, boating past a lighthouse and under bridges to get to the submerged original alignment of Route 66.
The original alignment is in an area that was a very large valley, with a very narrow valley way, with Sugar Creek snaking its way through the bottom of the valley.
“At one point, the City of Springfield recognized they got to find a way to build a new city reservoir,” the tour guide says. “They came up with the idea of building a lake here for the reservoir, and it would take years and years for this development to take place.”
The area was first settled in the 1820s and had farms and homesteads at the time when the lake was to be constructed.
“Where Route 66, the original point, goes down into the lake, there used to be a small hamlet of buildings there called ‘Cotton Hill,’ and it served the railroad bridge and the rail line and about 300 railroad workers living in a camp there,” the tour guide says.
“There wasn’t much to these buildings. There’s like a two-story building, a car garage, a filling station, a post office, maybe a commissary of some kind, couple of outbuildings, but there just wasn’t much to it, but they realized that if they’re going to take this area for the lake, they’re going to have to get rid of Cotton Hill and the road.”
Cotton Hill was demolished.
Lake Springfield was constructed in the 1930s.
Route 66 is still underwater today.
But there was a time when the road resurfaced.
The tour guide passes around photos and a map when that occurred.
“AI Generated Image of the 1954 photo from the Springfield newspaper, when a drought exposed Route 66,” a photo caption says.
WHEN YOU GO
WHAT: Route 66 Submerged: A Sunken Road. A Story Resurfaced.
WHERE: Lake Springfield Marina, 17 Waters Edge Boulevard, Springfield, Illinois
WHEN: 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays through Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.
INFORMATION: The 45-minute interpretive boat tour is free, but advanced registrations are required, and space is limited.
Call 217-483-3625 for information. Or, click here.
Route 66 Centennial 2026 Celebrations – Save the Dates:
.Official dedication of Route 66 signage for Brooklyn, Illinois, America’s oldest black incorporated town, 3 p.m. Friday, June 26, 2026, at 519 Madison St., Brooklyn, Illinois.
The dedication ceremony will kick off the “There’s No Place Like Brooklyn” reunion weekend Friday through Sunday, June 26-28.
The weekend will feature music, food, storytelling, art and cultural showcases.
Brooklyn (also known as Lovejoy) is 2 miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois, and 3 miles northeast of downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded by freed and fugitive slaves and incorporated in 1873.
The next Celebrate and Learn! National Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series will take place Tuesday, July 14, 2026, as it aims for every second Tuesday of each month during the centennial year (11 a.m. PT/12 p.m. MT/1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET).
Authors, historians, researchers and advocates will present stories and perspectives about Route 66.
For those unable to attend live, each session will be recorded and made available on YouTube.
The Tuesday, July 14, 2026, session will be on “The Changing Faces of Hualapai and Route 66.” Ka-Voka Jackson, director of the Hualapai Department of Cultural Resources, will be the speaker.
“This presentation explores the history of the Hualapai Tribe and Route 66 in northwestern Arizona,” “Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series – At a Glance,” says. “Federally recognized in 1883 by President Arthur, the Hualapai Reservation and its capital, Peach Springs, were deeply shaped by the tourism brought by Route 66.”
For more information and to register, visit “Sessions Overview at-a-glance.”
During the Tuesday, June 9, 2026, session on “Route 66 – The First 100 Years,” husband-and-wife team Jim Ross, Route 66 historian and mapmaker, and Shellee Graham, photographer and Route 66 ambassador, presented a chronological overview of Route 66’s history. The couple wrote the book “Route 66: The First 100 Years.”
During the speaker series, Ross highlighted the impact of Route 66 on migrants and Native Americans, showing the hardships they faced, even as they experienced the compassion of others.
Harsh realities of Route 66’s demise affected small communities, Ross said. The demise of the route occurred over about a 20-year period.
“The word ‘bypass,’ when it was first uttered, quickly came to instill fear and anger in just about everybody that lived and worked along Route 66, unless they were in a larger city,” Ross said.
Ross offered an example of how Route 66 is kept alive through a restoration of the Dotch Windsor’s Painted Desert Trading Post in northeastern Arizona. It was built in 1942.
“Preservation is the future of the highway,” Ross said.
Only In Your State, the official publishing partner of the Route 66 Centennial, is offering a 2026 event calendar outlining planned celebrations for the centennial of Route 66.
The calendar is available here.