Transportation
9
After leaving Chicago, early travelers on Route 66 passed through open lands on the city's outskirts, a countryside of farms and quarries. By the time the City of Countryside was incorporated in 1960, few farms remained as fields gave way to businesses and homes driven by suburban growth. Near here, the Marx Brothers, a famous family comedy act of the early to mid 1900s, began chicken farming in 1917 to avoid being drafted into World War I, though Groucho later recalled that their work on the farm faded as their attention turned elsewhere. Quarries about a mile east of here had produced rock and aggregate since 1881, and crushed limestone from them formed the Route 66 roadbed from Chicago to Joliet.
Hear stories like this as you drive
ExploreHere reads historical markers out loud as you pass them: over 325,000 stories across the US. No account needed.
4.7 · 800+ ratings · Free
FIND IT
Countryside, Illinois · United States
