The seasoned motorists who tackled a stretch of the Dixie Highway during a tour Saturday had a full itinerary of interesting places to learn about. Starting at the Markham Roller Rink, a midcentury icon that’s still open to those who can ply the hardwood on wheeled feet, the daylong motorcade visited various historic places and eras as it traveled south. Scheduled stops along the way didn’t adhere strictly to the highway’s modern route.
A foray into Thornton offered a visit to the , now Thornton Distilling, as well as a glimpse millions of years into the past via fossilized sea life extracted from the massive limestone quarry in the village on display at the Thornton Historical Society. The at Bloom High School in Chicago Heights, where tourists could check out the school’s marvelous architecture as well as frescoes created during the Great Depression by artist Edgar Britton under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration. The school also featured its giant globe, a companion to one created for President Franklin D.
Roosevelt by a Chicago Heights firm amid World War II. Constructed in 1931, Bloom High School in Chicago Heights features Art Deco motifs throughout its exterior. (Paul Eisenberg/Daily Southtown) In Crete, the town’s catalog of Sears Homes was featured, taking people when kit houses would arrive by train as part of a mail-order delivery.
More events ensued as the motorists, many driving Ford Model A classics, proceeded down the Dixie to Beecher, Gra.
