Route 66 in Springfield, Illinois-- Part 1: Something About a Horseshoe

From theArcadia Publishing book by Cheryl Eichar Jett.

Nice picture of the former Cozy Dog on the cover.

Some of the photos of interest to me.

Page 38:  Photo of the Leland Hotel with the Illinois State Capitol Building at the end of the street.     Caption: "The Leland Hotel at Sixth Street and Capitol Avenue was built in 1866 at a cost of $350,000 for construction and furnishings.  (Appears to be seven stories high.)   Horace S. Leland opened the fine new hotel on January 1, 1867.

"The Leland is said to be the home of the horseshoe sandwich, first made by a chef there in 1928.  The chef is said to have taken the recipe to Wayne's Red Coach Inn where the popular dish is still served.."  If the Red Coach Inn is still open, I have never heard of it.  Will check it out, though.  The Leland Hotel is still there, but now serves as upscale apartments.

Photo courtesy of Joe Sonderman.

We will be in Springfield this next week as we Route 66 it to the Munger-Moss Motel  in Lebanon, Missouri, and will pass through again on Saturday on the Illinois Route 66 Motor Tour.

Now, I have heard that the original horseshoe is also served at Norb Andy's, also on Capitol Avenue.  This is where Liz and I had our first horseshoe after we found out about it at the 2002 Route 66 International Festival in Springfield.  We also found out the difference between a horseshoe and ponyshoe.

Good Eatin' In Any Event.  --RoadDog