McLean, IL

McLean is a McLean County village laid out by Franklin Price on June 22, 1855, and now part of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. The 2020 census counted 743 residents. Interstate 55 passes along the east side, with access at Exit 145, while historic Route 66 and Illinois Route 136 meet near the village. That combination gives McLean an unusual scale: a small local street grid with two very different kinds of through traffic.

The Dixie Travel Plaza made the village a familiar stop for truckers and Route 66 travelers, while Arcadia: America's Playable Arcade Museum gives the old travel corridor a playful local landmark. The museum grew from the arcade collection once associated with the Dixie operation, keeping a piece of roadside history in town. McLean's students attend Olympia Community Unit School District 16, and the village center still holds the square and older civic buildings around which Price's 1855 plan was built. McLean is a small Illinois village whose identity comes from its highway history, travel stop, and arcade collection.