Wayside home
Ambler-Becker Texaco Station in Dwight, Illinois, offered ‘homey’ feel
By Tamara “Tammie” Browning
History says that the Village of Dwight, Illinois, “has always been a memorable stop on Route 66.”
Indeed.
“ ‘Dwight was the first traffic light south of Chicago,’ recall some old-timers,” a wayside sign says at the historic Ambler-Becker Texaco Station at Route 17 and Old Route 66, Dwight.
For Phil Becker – the last of the owners of the gas station built by Jack Schore and his son, Paul, in 1933 – Dwight was home.
So was the gas station.
“I lived down the street here about six houses, so it was really convenient for me just to walk down here and get a candy bar, this, that and the other,” Becker says in a video from the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway. “The gentleman that lived right next door, his name was ‘Basil Ambler.’ His nickname was ‘Tubby.’ I used to show up here and there, and I used to start hanging around, and so he started giving me jobs to do.”
Becker wiped windows. Cleaned bugs off windows. He watched the station and pumped gas when he was 13 or 14 on Sundays.
“I started pretty early,” Becker says.
Becker began working at the station in 1964, eventually purchasing it in 1970.
Becker helped the gas station reach a milestone – the last of the original Route 66 gasoline filling stations to cease selling fuel.
Friendly refuge
The gas station was Vernon’s Texaco Station when in 1936 Vernon Von Qualen leased the business from Jack Schore.
“Sometime between 1936 and 1938, Mr. Von Qualen purchased the station from Mr. Schore,” the business’ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form says. “Then in 1938, he sold Vernon’s Texaco Station to Basil (Tubby) Ambler and the property became known as Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station.”
Tubby Ambler owned the business from 1938 to 1966 when it was known as “Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station.”
The original building follows a design developed in 1916 by Standard Oil of Ohio, commonly known as a house with canopy. It was meant “to give travelers a comfortable feeling they could associate with home,” the business’ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form says.
Ambler furthered the “homey” feel of his business by keeping a couch in the station.
Ambler sold the property to Earl Koehler, who sold the station to Royce McBeath sometime between 1965 and 1970. On March 4, 1970, Phil Becker took over the station from McBeath.
“I really didn’t have any money, and I’d just gotten married. Just got married about a month before we bought the station,” Becker said. “Royce McBeath loaned me some money and the guy that was delivering the fuel … he loaned me a tank of gas, and my dad signed for some money at the bank and we were on our way. Scared me to death, but we stayed here for 27 or 28 years on our own.”
History donated
Becker ran the gas station initially as a livelihood rather than a historic attraction on Route 66.
“As time went on, it really started growing. More people would drive on the old road, and a lot of historians were starting to follow the road and finding the spots that have been hidden and closed up,” Becker says in the video.
The station had many visitors from Europe.
One day, five cars stopped at the station, and a group from France got out, showing Becker a book that contained a picture of Becker and of his father.
“They all bailed out and come up. They were giving me hugs and everything else and wanting me to sign the autographs,” Becker says. “That was really cool.”
The business closed as a gas station in 1999.
In the early 2000s, Becker and his wife, Debbie, donated the station to the Village of Dwight. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
WHEN YOU GO
WHAT: Ambler-Becker Gas Station
WHERE: Route 17 and Old Route 66, Dwight, Illinois
WHEN: Outside is always open. For more information about touring the inside, call 815-584-3077.
INFORMATION:
The Old Route 66 Family Restaurant is located near the Ambler-Becker Gas Station at 105 S. Old Route 66, Dwight.
It is a homestyle family restaurant.
Road Rules – News, Events:
The Village of Dwight will participate in the Illinois Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor, an annual, two-day festival and tourism promotion from Joliet to Bloomington-Normal in Illinois.
The event will be on Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, 2026.
“The Village of Dwight is rolling out the red carpet for an unforgettable Red-Carpet Corridor Celebration — honoring the 100th Anniversary of Old Route 66 and America’s 250th Birthday!” the Village of Dwight’s Facebook page says. “More details coming soon… but for now, save the date and spread the word!”
Route 66 Centennial 2026 Celebrations – Save the Dates:
The next Celebrate and Learn! National Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series will take place Tuesday, March 10, 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.
Free registration for the Tuesday, March 10, session on “Women’s Work on Route 66” with speaker Cheryl Eichar Jett is open.
For more information and to register, visit “Sessions Overview at-a-glance.”
Springfield, Missouri, will host the National Kickoff of America’s Route 66 Centennial Celebration in 2026 on Thursday, April 30.
A kickoff concert will be held on Thursday, April 30, at the Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Mosque, 601 E. St. Louis St., Springfield, Missouri.
April 30, 2026, is the 100th anniversary of the telegram that was sent in 1926 from Springfield, Missouri, to Washington, D.C., requesting that a new transcontinental road be named Route 66, according to https://celebratemo66.com/.
The concert will be livestreamed around the world with cut-ins from Route 66 cities in the United States.
More information is at https://celebratemo66.com/.
The Joliet Slammers will play an official exhibition game “The Big House Ballgame”
on Thursday, April 30, 2026, within the walls of the historic, Old Joliet Prison, Joliet, Illinois.
Visit https://jolietslammers.com/bhbg/ to fill out a form for a ticket lottery.
The Slammers are Joliet’s pro baseball team.
Route of Tulsa’s World-Record Classic Car Parade, Saturday, May 30, Tulsa, Oklahoma, aims to be the world’s largest classic car parade, “with a goal of 3,000 classic cars cruising down 5.5 miles of the historic highway.”
To register, visit CapitalOfRoute66.com.
The Pink Elephant Antique Mall in Livingston, Illinois, plans a Smokin’ on 66 — a Barbecue Cook-Off Competition during its Route 66 Centennial Celebration on Saturday, June 20, 2026.
Plans are underway, so the mall isn’t signing up teams or collecting entry fees just yet.
Official updates will be posted on the mall’s Facebook page.
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.