Afternoon stop in Aurora, IL.
Aurora is another of those faded manufacturing centers one sees in the midwest. Perhaps it was the rainy weather but the city had a gloomy feel to it. Like other Lincoln Highway cities such as Chicago Heights and Sterling, the urban decline in Aurora is quite noticeable. Yet another maze of one-way streets in a semi-deserted struggling downtown. As in Chicago Heights I did not linger in the center city. I should return another time in better weather and give it another chance; it is a very historic. According to Wikipedia this was once the the main economic center of the Fox Valley region and a “manufacturing powerhouse”. A familiar story: by the 70s the factories were closing, unemployment soared, crime went up and urban decay accelerated.
The city is situated right on the Fox River. The set of pictures includes two taken at the gorgeous art deco New York Street Memorial Bridge (1931) crossing the Fox and Stolp Island. There is an impressive movie palace downtown, the Paramount (also 1931).
The most interesting part of my brief visit to Aurora was the approach on the Lincoln Highway route on the southeastern side of the city past Phillips Park. In the pics one sees a restored Lincoln Highway brick roadside shelter (1923) and the remains of an original Lincoln Highway era gas station. Why a mastodon in the park? In the 30s during some excavations in century old Phillips Park – a lovely park giving testament to what once was in Aurora – mastodon bones were found and are now on exhibit there in the park’s visitor center.
Doggie Diner on the Lincoln in Aurora – a true classic. I turned into its now deserted parking lot immediately to get some shots. “Temporarily closed” – I hope it reopens – it is a beauty. The trailer park and old gas station are across the street.
Yes, I passed on Hansen’s Motel.
The Northgate Shopping Center sign on the way out of Aurora called for another photo stop as I headed north on the Lincoln on Illinois 31.
