On Friday, October 28^th, 1960, the Marion Public Square was bypassed by new Illinois Route 13. For the first time, east and west bound traffic on Route 13 no longer had to pass through the middle of town and around the square with the completion of DeYoung from N. Fair Street on the east side of Marion.

Traffic at this time still had to enter and exit Marion from the east on old 13, but got jogged by way of N. Fair which had to have three blocks from Boulevard to DeYoung converted from the old tar and chip city street to a paved surface as is explained in the following article.   Continue reading →