Gemini Giant

Buildings and structures in Will County, IllinoisBuildings and structures on U.S. Route 66Chicago metropolitan area geography stubsRoadside attractions in IllinoisTourist attractions in Will County, Illinois ... and 1 more

U.S. Route 66 in Illinois

The Gemini Giant is a landmark statue on U.S. Route 66 at the eastern entrance to Wilmington, Will County, Illinois. Standing outside the Launching Pad drive-in restaurant, the 30 foot tall statue is one of many giant "Muffler Man" advertising props found throughout the US in the Sixties. The Gemini Giant is named after the Gemini space program and holds a silver "rocket ship" in his hands, while sporting an astronaut's space helmet that resembles a welding mask.The proprietors of a Dari-Delight restaurant (opened in 1960), John and Bernice Korelc, bought a 438-pound fiberglass Muffler Man figure for $3,500 at the annual National Restaurant Association convention, had it outfitted as an astronaut with helmet and rocket, and renamed the restaurant, now guarded by the Gemini Giant, as the "Launching Pad". Since then, the Giant has been the most prominent decoration of the restaurant. In 2007, the Launching Pad was purchased from Jerry and Sharon Gatties, the owners at the time, by Morey Szczecin, but, after a struggle, the landmark closed again in 2010. In October 2017, it was purchased by Holly Barker and Tully Garrett, who announced plans to restore it "to what it was in its glory days," with the Gemini Giant remaining as a recognized Route 66 landmark. Both the Launching Pad and the Gemini Giant were inducted into the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame in 2000.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Gemini Giant (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Gemini Giant
East Baltimore Street,

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude	Longitude
N 41.310352 °	E -88.138571 °

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Address

Shell

East Baltimore Street
60421
Illinois, United States
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Nearby Places

Small–Towle House

The Small–Towle House is a historic residence in Wilmington, Illinois. Wilmington was an important milling down in the 1850s, particularly with the connection of the Chicago and Alton Railroad in 1854. The house was built by William McGinnis in 1864. After five years, he sold the house for more than ten times the price he paid for the lot. One of the early owners of the house was John H. Daniels, Wilmington's first mayor. In 1870, the Small family purchased the home; the son of the owner married the daughter of McGinnis later that year. Eli Small ran the Mohawk Belle, a steamboat on the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The Smalls lived in the house until 1883, when they sold it to the Towle family. The Towles sold the house in 1933 for $1 during the Great Depression under the condition that the owners cared for Julia Towle. Constructed during the transition time between Greek Revival and Italianate styles, the vernacular building is often classified as "upright-and-wing". The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 17, 1979.

Wilmington, Will County, Illinois

Wilmington is a city in Will County, Illinois, United States. Located on IL-53 along the east bank of the Kankakee River, it is approximately 60 miles south-west from downtown Chicago (the Chicago Loop). The population was 5,664 at the 2020 census. Surrounded by wetlands, Wilmington is known as "The Island City" and is directly south of Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. The prairie is home to the largest American bison herd in Illinois.

Eagle Hotel (Wilmington, Illinois)

The Eagle Hotel, also known as the Wilmington Area Historical Society Museum, is a historic former hotel in Wilmington, Illinois. Wilmington, Illinois

Wilmington High School (Illinois)

Wilmington High School (or WHS) is a public four-year high school located in Wilmington, a southwest suburb of Chicago of the United States, in Will County. It is operated by Wilmington School District 209-U.

Lakewood Shores, Illinois

Lakewood Shores is a census-designated place (CDP) in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 665 at the 2020 census. It is an extension of the neighboring city of Wilmington.

Ballou, Illinois

Ballou is an unincorporated community in southern Will County, Illinois, United States. It is located three miles southeast of the city of Wilmington in Wesley Township. Ballou is home to only a few houses and a grain elevator that serves the area farms. Other than the eponymous Ballou Road, a two-lane country road, there are no city streets or services. A railroad track that formerly crossed Ballou Road next to the grain elevator was dismantled in the 1990s.

Rest Haven, Illinois

Rest Haven is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Will County, Illinois, United States. It is in the southern part of the county, on the northeast side of the Kankakee River, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of Wilmington. It is bordered to the east by Ritchie and to the south, across the Kankakee, by Custer Park. Rest Haven was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census.

Wilmington Township, Will County, Illinois

Wilmington Township is located in Will County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 6,193 and it contained 2,811 housing units.

Ritchie, Illinois

Ritchie is an unincorporated community in southern Will County, Illinois, United States. It is located along Forked Creek and Illinois Route 102, three miles southeast of the city of Wilmington in Wesley Township. Ritchie is home to several dozen houses, the Wesley Township hall, a church, a grain elevator, and the house of the founder of Ritchie. His house is located at the eastern entry into Ritchie along Illinois Route 102. A railroad track passing through the community was dismantled in the 1990s, but the bridge that carried it over Forked Creek and Route 102 remains.

Joliet Army Ammunition Plant

Joliet Army Ammunition Plant (JOAAP, formerly known as the Joliet Arsenal) was a United States Army arsenal located in Will County, Illinois, near Elwood, Illinois, south of Joliet, Illinois. Opened in 1940 during World War II, the facility consisted of the Elwood Ordnance Plant (EOP) and the Kankakee Ordnance Works (KNK). In 1945, the two were deactivated and combined forming the Joliet Arsenal. The plant was reactivated for the Korean War and renamed Joliet Army Ammunition Plant during the Vietnam War. Production of TNT ended in 1976, and the major plant operations closed shortly after in the late 1970s. The facility briefly revived an automated load-assemble-pack (LAP) artillery shell operation that was managed by the Honeywell Corporation during the Reagan administration in the 1980s before it was finally closed.Portions of the site have been redeveloped forming the CenterPoint Intermodal Center, Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.

Custer Park, Illinois

Custer Park is an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, United States. Custer Park is located on Illinois Route 113 and the south bank of the Kankakee River 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east-southeast of Braidwood.

Florence Township, Will County, Illinois

Florence Township is located in Will County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 933 and it contained 370 housing units. Florence Township was formed from a portion of Wilmington Township at an unknown date.