The Truck Stop Submitted by Ed and Marjorie Baize, 2006 The Truck Stop opened on June 29, 1952. The service station sold Marathon products for the first two years. The Pure Oil Company bought the operation. Pure Oil sold to Union Oil of California two years later and it was known as the Union Oil Truck Stop. Del Haines built and operated it for the first two years. Louis Busch was the restaurant operator. Pure Oil hired managers, then it changed to Union Oil. It was leased to operators. Don Foster of Mazon leased from 1956 to 1963. It was Foster's Pure Oil he then sold to Edward Baize and the Truck Stop became known as Eddies Truck Stop. Eddie ran the service station until the closing on May 31, 1976. Union Oil had built a new facility on the by-pass around Bloomington on I-55. They required a minimum of 7 acres for an interstate facility and there were only 4 acres at the Towanda location. The restaurant was leased to several different operators, among them, Mary Foster - while her husband had the service station, Jack Fisher, The Moody's, Mabel Wilson, Charlie Burnside, Helen Evans, Eileen Harris, and Launita Barnard. The restaurant closed several months before the service station. The building was torn down the property sold. When the Truck Stop was built, U.S. 66 was only a two land road. That road became the southbound lanes anew north bound lanes were opened in late 1954. The I-55 highway was opened in 1976 just to the north of the Truck Stop. In 1996 Edward and Marjorie Baize were inducted into the Route 66 Hall of Fame for their part in making U.S. 66 memorable. Marjorie was the Bookkeeper for the Truck Stop for her husband and two of the restaurant operators.
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