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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
Endpoints of
1926-1934
East: Peoria, IL
West: Galesburg, IL
1934-1938
East: Peoria, IL
West: Biggsville, IL
Peoria
US 124 was among the original routes commissioned in 1926; initially it served as a 60-mile connector between US 24 in Peoria and US 34 at Galesburg:
c. 1928, IL DoT
The earliest map I have seen that was detailed enough to show the routing in Peoria is an inset from the 1935 official state highway map, shown here:
c. 1935, IL DoT
That indicated that US 124 ended on Washington Street at its junction with US 24 on "Franklin Street"... which is interesting, because nearly the entire alignment of Franklin has long since been vacated. Today the location of that historic junction is on Washington, directly below the William Kumpf Boulevard overpass. This interactive image is looking southwest on Washington:
That was the original terminus of US 124. Straight ahead was westbound US 24, while eastbound was to the left on Franklin (which was a surface road running along the base of the overpass).
However, the map from two years later (1937) indicated that highway configurations in town had changed significantly. US 124 ended at the same intersection, but by this time it approached from the opposite direction, and it no longer ended at US 24, but rather at US 150:
c. 1937, IL DoT
Galesburg
From Peoria, US 124 originally followed what is now IL 116 almost to Farmington; IL 78 north; IL 8 west; and IL 97 northwest to a terminus in Galesburg. There, US 34 was routed through town on Main Street, and then north on Lincoln Street along the railroad. So US 124 ended on Main at Lincoln. This image is looking west on Main; US 124 ended here. Straight ahead was westbound US 34, while eastbound was to the right on Lincoln:
Biggsville
US 150 was extended through Peoria and Galesburg in 1934, and it used a more direct route between the two cities than 124 did, so presumably at that time it was decided that the US 124 designation would be better applied to the Peoria-Burlington IA corridor. So from Peoria it continued west on IL 116 through Farmington, all the way to about two miles west of Biggsville:
c. 1935, IL DoT
This photo was taken looking north on IL 116; historically US 124 ended here. At the time of this photo, US 34 was the crossroad, but since then traffic has been rerouted along a newer bypass. Burlington is about 15 miles to the left:
This perspective was from eastbound US 34; the west beginning of US 124 was once to the right:
Even after this western extension, the route was still only about 80 miles long. So, as a short intra-state highway, US 124 was decommissioned after only about 12 years.
Research and/or image credits: Jeff Morrison; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2002;last updated Sep. 4, 2025.
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