Streator Illinois WWII Canteen Monument

General Information

The WWII Canteen Monument honors the spirit of Streator's WWII Canteen. The canteen opened on Nov.26, 1943. During World War II, many of the troop trains came through the Streator Santa Fe station. Local citizens organized the Track side Streator Free Canteen, one of hundreds of canteen across the country, to provide fresh food and drinks free to the service people when their train stopped in Streator. Often, it was the first snack and friendly face the troops had seen since their train ride began. The canteen served more than 1 ½ million service people in less than three years, on the busiest day the canteen fed 5,500 troops. Volunteers came from 47 communities in 9 counties around Streator. Thirty service organizations supported the canteen. Troops were fed by volunteers who boarded the train or serviced them on the platform, while the train was be serviced. Everything from sandwiches, donuts, cookies, coffee, milk and soup to cigarettes, chewing gum, magazines, papers and letter writing supplies were given free to all service personnel. The monument was dedicated on Veterans Day Nov 11, 2006.

Streator WWII Canteen Monument
Santa Fe Burlington Northern Depot
North Illinois St
Streator, IL

JUNE 27 - JULY 1, 2018

Walldogs Arrived in Streator

In conjunction with the celebration of Streator's Sesquicentennial, the Walldogs took over the entire town of Streator, IL for 5 days adding a multitude of murals to building walls in the downtown area depicting Streator's rich historical heritage. Over the past year my wife and I have traveled to Streator twice to take shots of our car in front of several of the murals. We still have several to locate and shoot, so we will return again in the near future.