Joliet: Hotels for Culture, Route 66 and Nature

Explore Joliet through several themes: city history, immigration, Route 66, industry and nature. When planning your trip, you can start by considering which focus interests you most. The museums tell stories about residents and ways of life; other places draw attention to manufacturing, transportation or the landscape.

Museums, Immigration and City History

The Joliet Area Historical Museum is housed in the former Ottawa Street Methodist Church at the intersection of Cass Street and Ottawa Street in downtown. Since opening in the fall of 2002, its main exhibition has offered insights into the stories of the Joliet area and its residents. The development of the place is presented alongside the experiences of the people who are part of its history.

The Routes of Agency exhibition offers a distinctive historical perspective. It explores how Black residents of Joliet’s South End built a vibrant, self-sustaining community during the Great Migration. Its local focus and historical context make this a distinct way to explore the city’s history.

The Martin & Emma Planinsek Grocery and Meat Market Museum conveys the experience of Slovenian immigrants in Joliet. It recreates a corner store that operated from 1926 to 1961. The Slovenian Woman's Heritage Museum preserves Slovenian ethnic heritage and honors the immigrants who settled in the region. Both museums are dedicated to Slovenian heritage, but focus on different aspects: one on the experience of the recreated store, the other on honoring the heritage and the immigrants.

Route 66, Manufacturing and Railroads

At the Route 66 Welcome Center, a diner scene connects the story of the road with historic images of Route 66 in Joliet. The Made in Joliet exhibition has a different focus: it showcases objects made in Joliet, including a rare 1909 Economy Motor Buggy. This lets you encounter the city’s history through images in one place and locally manufactured objects in another.

The Joliet Railroad Museum is a former interlocking tower dating to around 1913, which has been preserved and incorporated into Gateway Center Train Station. The tower’s third floor offers views of trains from every direction. The site thus connects the history of the building with views of rail traffic.

Theater and Historic Buildings

The Rialto Square Theatre is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours include the Esplanade, Rotunda, stage and Green Room. If you plan to take a tour, check in advance whether one is offered on your visit date.

The historic Hiram B. Scutt Mansion is considered a Civil War house and Joliet’s last limestone building. The P. Seth Magosky Museum of Victorian Life & Joliet History offers another architectural perspective: it is an architectural resource center and a museum of Victorian lifestyles. Old Joliet Prison was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

The Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park also explores the city’s history. Its history trail uses boulder markers to tell stories about historic businesses and homes on Joliet’s first street. The markers draw attention to individual places and their past.

Nature, Trails and Industrial History

The Joliet Iron Works Historic Site covers 52 acres and offers a glimpse of the region’s industrial past in a natural setting along the Des Plaines River. The paved Joliet Junction Trail offers another way to experience the landscape: it stretches 4.36 miles south from Crest Hill through Joliet.

Pilcher Park is known for its mesic and wet-mesic upland forests, seep communities, striking spring wildflowers and old trees. The Pilcher Park Nature Center offers hiking, cycling and cross-country skiing on scenic trails. The Nature Center uses hikes and hands-on activities for its educational programs.

The natural areas each have a different focus: the Joliet Junction Trail centers on a paved, clearly measured route, while Pilcher Park is characterized by its forest and seep communities and the activities on offer. Joliet Iron Works, in contrast, combines a natural setting with the theme of industrial history. These differences can help you tailor your stay to what you most want to experience in Joliet.

Explore more destinations: Romeoville, Channahon, Bolingbrook, Crete, Monee, Mokena.

Return to the regional travel overview: Will County.