Published: March 26, 2008 12:47 pm            

Traveling office to help build tourism along the National Road

TEUTOPOLIS — John Goldsmith wants to build tourism on the National Road in partnership with communities on the Illinois segment of the historic highway, which runs from East St. Louis to the Indiana border near Marshall.

That’s why Goldsmith, executive director of the National Road Association of Illinois, was in Teutopolis Tuesday for the association’s first-ever “traveling office.”

“It’s a concept that has worked well for politicians, so I wanted to see if it would work well for us,” Goldsmith said.

Not many members of the public visited village hall Tuesday, but Goldsmith and association board member Kim Wiedman did meet with representatives from the Teutopolis Monastery Museum and the Charles Wright House museum. The Wright House is one of Altamont’s best-known landmarks.

Goldsmith said interacting with folks from the 20 Illinois communities on the National Road is the whole idea behind the traveling office. If communities work together, he said, tourists will forego interstate highway travel for a trip through time on old U.S. 40, the National Road in Illinois.

“One of our main priorities is to encourage people to get off the interstate and visit these communities,” he said. “Any time we can get business to increase, we feel like we’ve accomplished part of our mission.”

Area communities on the National Road include Greenup, Jewett, Montrose, Teutopolis, Effingham, Altamont, St. Elmo and Brownstown. Ultimately, every community on the old road will feature a kiosk, or information center, in a prominent location. Each kiosk will include panels describing local history and attractions, as well as a map of the National Road in Illinois.

While Goldsmith admitted the kiosk project is several years away from being completed, he said progress is being made.

“I think we are starting to see some daylight on the project, thanks to Jerry Roll,” Goldsmith said. Roll is the association’s former executive director who stayed on after retirement.

The association recently moved its office from Belleville — not even on the old road — to more centrally located Greenville. Goldsmith said the move gives him more flexibility.

“In Belleville, we had to make a choice between going on the road and staying in the office,” he said. “In Greenville, we can do both.”

Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 131 or bill.grimes@effinghamdailynews.com.