Soulsby Service Station

About

Our story began in 1926, when former miner Henry Soulsby recognized that the newly designated national highway would pass through Mount Olive and built a small service station beside the road. Henry designed the house-and-canopy building himself, creating a station that fit comfortably into the surrounding neighborhood while serving a growing stream of motorists. His children Russell and Ola later took over the business, and Russell also operated a radio and television repair shop from the station after returning from World War II. The Soulsbys remained closely connected to the property for decades, with the station pumping gasoline until 1991 and finally closing as a business in 1993.

Today, we preserve that roadside story as a visitor center and small museum filled with petroleum memorabilia, Route 66 artifacts and reminders of the Soulsby family’s years here. Preservation work beginning in 2003 restored original doors and windows, removed later siding and returned the building to much of its postwar appearance, complete with bright Shell-style pumps and signage. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and is recognized by the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway as one of the oldest and most original surviving filling stations along Illinois Route 66.

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